RUSSIA: Several Russian traffic policemen are suspected of organising a criminal gang that stole thousands of luxury foreign cars for sale on the black market.
Police internal investigation agents said raids across Moscow and several provincial towns had cracked the crime ring, which had more than 100 members and specialised in the theft of Audis, BMWs, Mercedes and top-of-the-range jeeps.
Mr Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of the Interior Ministry's internal security department, said: "We are talking about 100 or more people and, unfortunately, more than 10 police officers."
He said the group would change the cars' number plates and chassis numbers, reregister them as legal vehicles, and then sell them for a fraction of their market price to make a quick profit.
A source in Mr Romodanovsky's department, who declined to be named, said: "The group operated for several years. It was a huge organisation with very professional car thieves, and it always operated in conjunction with the police.
"We could be talking about tens or even hundreds of thousands of cars stolen. They operated in Germany, Poland and across the former Soviet Union."
The source said eight men had been arrested so far, including one serving policeman and one retired officer.
At least 25 cars stolen cars had been retrieved from the gang in Moscow alone, including about 10 Jeep Grand Cherokees and a Ferrari 328, which had been sold for a paltry $5,000.
Another 12 raids were planned as part of the operation, she said, adding that worried policemen were already coming forward to admit to buying cars from dealers associated with the crime ring. One man had admitted to having eight vehicles that are suspected of having being stolen.