IMPORTED STOLEN VEHICLES LATEST:

•    Say “Cotonou takes 80Per cent, Tin Can 10 Per Cent, Lome 10 Per Cent”
About three weeks after we scooped that American police have burst a syndicate that specialized in importation of stolen cars from the United States of America (USA) to port of some West African countries, Nigerian importers and dealers have thrown more light into how the syndicate works, even as they tried to exonerate Tin Can Island port as the port where such vehicles are shipped to.

•    Say “Cotonou takes 80Per cent, Tin Can 10 Per Cent, Lome 10 Per Cent”
About three weeks after we scooped that American police have burst a syndicate that specialized in importation of stolen cars from the United States of America (USA) to port of some West African countries, Nigerian importers and dealers have thrown more light into how the syndicate works, even as they tried to exonerate Tin Can Island port as the port where such vehicles are shipped to.
In Shipping Position Daily’s undercover investigations, it was revealed that indeed, there specific ships that freight those stolen cargoes and that majority of those vehicles land at Cotonou port, Benin Republic.
Our investigations also revealed that Cotonou port actually hosts to syndicate that specializes on the sale of stolen vehicles from United State America and some parts of Europe.
Insider sources who (for obvious reasons) plead anonymity revealed that most members of the syndicate are from the Middle East and Lebanon, but they have collaborators among West Africans.
“These vehicles are not shipped directly to Tin Can port as they are claiming, they first ship to Cotonou, from there the cars are taken by road to Nigeria to be sold to auto traders. Some time they are sold directly at Cotonou port and the dealer will find ways to get them to Nigeria”, one of our sources disclosed.
According to him, the groups are also shipping agents who allegedly transport mainly stolen vehicles to West Africa from America, before selling to their Nigerian collaborators, whom he described as the final consumer.
Specifically, one importer also disclosed that some Nigerian automobile dealers are patrons to the cabal over there in Cotonou, adding that the recent report of how stolen vehicles are shipped to Tin Can Port was misconstrued by American security and judges.
‘’ The people overseas know quite alright that their vehicles are in Nigeria, but such cars do not actually come straight through Nigerian seaports, rather, Cotonou port is the centre of such vehicles’’.
‘’Cotonou port is the base for the cabal who sell mostly used vehicles to Nigeria auto dealers and users. They are popular at the port, but few people understand the nature of their business and how they go about the sale of such stolen vehicles’’, he confided in our correspondent.
 They also confirmed that, even though, majority of the vehicles come into the country through Cotonou port, some are shipped directly  to Tin Can Island port, a confirmation of the findings of American police authourities.
 ‘’The Cotonou port handles 80 per cent of stolen imported vehicles, while Lome port of Togo and the Tin Can port in Lagos receive about 10 per cent each and it is through this that  most vehicles find their way to Nigeria.  But, the Americans believe that such vehicles came in through Tin Can Island port”