Thread: Thai Customs Department crushed Bt40 million Ferrari

Customs defends crushing of B40m car

Demolition of Ferrari intended as deterrent

The Customs Department has defended its decision to destroy a 40-million-baht impounded Ferrari despite a recommendation by the auditor-general to keep the car and put it to a useful purpose.

The department said that demolishing the car was intended as a deterrent against criminal scams used by gangs to legally register smuggled vehicles.

The car, with a market price tag of 40 million baht, was ordered to be crushed by an excavator at the Customs Department yesterday.

Department chief Chaowalit Sethameteekul said the smuggled grey Ferrari 456 GT was seized from a repair shop in Samut Prakan on June 28 and that no one had come forward to claim it.

However, essential components such as engine computers, exhaust pipes, wires and pumps had been removed before the car was impounded, Mr Chaowalit said. The car's actual value was not released.

He said the car had most probably been in the hands of a vehicle smuggling gang which took out the components to bring down the value of the car, left it to be impounded and planned to buy it back through a department-organised auction at a modest price.

After that, the gang would re-install the parts and reap a huge profit by selling it at market price. They would then be able to register the car with the Land Transport Department, which would make it perfectly legal, he said.

Mr Chaowalit said few people would be interested in buying the car because it had been stripped to the bone and was not in a driveable condition. A complete demolition of the car would cut off the lifeline of the gang and the flattened wreck would be sold as scrap.

After consulting with Deputy Auditor-General Pisit Leelavachiropas, he said he was sure the department was not breaking any law by destroying the sports car.

Mr Pisit said the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) did not object to the department getting rid of the Ferrari although it felt that such an expensive car could have been put to better use. The office had earlier advised the Customs Department to halt its plans to destroy the car.

A source said the OAG stepped in after private individuals brought the matter to its attention.

"We thought the car could have served a number of useful purposes. It could have been donated to a vocational school so students could learn about its engine, or it could even have been dumped into the sea as an artificial reef," said Mr Pisit.

The OAG had earlier inquired about the Customs Department's auction of another Ferrari in July. It was curious about why the department had allowed that car, which had also had its important parts removed, to be bought.

The source said that in its reply, the department explained it did not know the computer which controlled the engine had gone missing until the buyer came back to demand the department buy back the car. It was because of the buyer's complaint that the department became aware of the laundering gang.

Bangkok Post