Illegally imported Defender 110 seized, crushed by CBP at Baltimore Port

[Landpimp]

I do feel for the owners, however i would bet that the majority of the owners(regardless of how many) had a pretty good idea that their were not quite what they claimed to be or thought they were getting around the 25 year rule.

Biggest reason I have passed on way cool but not quite kosher non US Cruisers is the liability aspect...you could be hung out to dry if you were in an accident even with insurance, "sorry sir...its not what you said it was, we wont be covering you for million dollar claim"

 

[Skillet]

Flopping a pre-83 vin for a non GMO commie is TBT and may bring the Feds to QYM the DQR.
How much can we take when taxes are HWM on the PIHK?

 

[B Point]

Cool Skillet. I just plugged that into Google Translator and ......this is what came out.... "We're getting F'ed in the ass"

 

[roscoFJ73]

Reading the posts on the LR forum and it seems to importer has rolled over and given the govt a list of the landrovers he has handled. They all seem to have come through NC port.

 

[BMThiker]

I feel for the owners , though. I would hate to be a 2nd or 3rd owner from the time of importation and buy one thinking it's legit...since it's already registered.

I think it's absurd to think that the government will take your tax money on it, and then come back and take it. Never mentioning that they should have never approved it at customs to begin with. I don't think vin switching is some new idea when importing cars...

They should send the importer to prison, let the owners keep the defenders if they're already registered, and make it clear in the RR community it will not be accepted going forward. That place is like here and will blackball any unscrupulous members passing them off.

Where's the amnesty for the poor LR that landed on our shores with no guardian attached?

 

[lowenbrau]

Lowenbrau had one of his cruisers crushed after it was seized in Canada a few years ago.

Yeah, thanks for bringing up that painful memory. I still had four years of payments too.

Here it was a couple of weeks before the feds took it.

 

[FishTacos]

What was the reason behind that?


I mean, what reason did they give you for confiscation on your 70?

 

[FishTacos]

I ask because I have been thinking about trying to get a Canadian 70 series.

Sorry......but that thing is (was) real, real nice

 

[Sam Stewart]

Pretty much zero chance they will get the trucks back since they can't be legally registered. They did mention that the owners may be able to try to get their money back from the seller. Which I also suspect the chances are pretty much nil. I guess even if it's currently "legally" registered you still need to do due diligence and match the VINs and all that. Otherwise customs may show up at your house and take your junk.

 

[lowenbrau]

What was the reason behind that?


I mean, what reason did they give you for confiscation on your 70?

It was way too new at the time. It was a 1991 and it was seized in 2001. It had been illegally imported, seized, sold by the feds at auction for export only, exported to Montana for a weekend, illegally imported again and finally sold to me by the POS PO with a BS story. I really shouldn't have believed it as it wasn't really believable but none of the history showed up on a liencheck and it had been in the country and registered for years by that time so I thought I was okay.

 

[Douglas S]

Pretty much zero chance they will get the trucks back since they can't be legally registered. They did mention that the owners may be able to try to get their money back from the seller. Which I also suspect the chances are pretty much nil. I guess even if it's currently "legally" registered you still need to do due diligence and match the VINs and all that. Otherwise customs may show up at your house and take your junk.

Some of them should be recoverable. The trucks that have been seized weren't all illegally imported. The Feds are seizing all the trucks imported by one dealership, regardless of legal status. My assumption is that the trucks will be inspected in great detail and, if legitimate, the owner(s) should be able to get them back. The illegal trucks will be crushed.

 

[FishTacos]

It was way too new at the time. It was a 1991 and it was seized in 2001. It had been illegally imported, seized, sold by the feds at auction for export only, exported to Montana for a weekend, illegally imported again and finally sold to me by the POS PO with a BS story. I really shouldn't have believed it as it wasn't really believable but none of the history showed up on a liencheck and it had been in the country and registered for years by that time so I thought I was okay.

That is super crappy. Did you ever get anything out of the PO? That sounds like fraud to me.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Some of them should be recoverable. The trucks that have been seized weren't all illegally imported. The Feds are seizing all the trucks imported by one dealership, regardless of legal status. My assumption is that the trucks will be inspected in great detail and, if legitimate, the owner(s) should be able to get them back. The illegal trucks will be crushed.

Seemed like the way I read it they were seizing them because they were all illegally imported. If any of them are recoverable, that will be great for the owners. I feel for the ones that have the illegal ones though. Their trucks will be crushed and then they will have to go through the court system to try to recover money from the D-bag that illegally imported the vehicles. Which, as I said before, is very unlikely. You can even go through the court, get a judgement in your favor, and still never see a cent. If the person doesn't have any money or property or a job (like if they are in jail), there's no way to get any money from them.

 

[snobdds]

A good attorney should be able to get the vehicle back if customs and Boarder Patrol approved it's prior entry. Fraud by another should not be punishable on the innocent victim. As long as the victim had no prior knowledge of said fraud...

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Pretty sure they'll treat it just like stolen property. Just because you didn't know it was stolen doesn't make it legal. News already quoted CBP as saying "victims will be able to seek restitution through the importer". At least the guy's a "doctor", maybe he'll have some coin.

 

[doug720]

Sis n' law is on a Joint Local/Fed SoCal auto task force for stolen vehicles. Told me last night, that many of the Rovers being seized were reported stolen in EU! The story is the they exported the stolen vehicles with dummy vins from wrecked vehicles, then collected insurance on stolen vins!

She said if they were stolen, no way to get them back, period! If they were imported with fraudulent vins, ie old vin on newer vehicle,, no way to get them, period! If the vins are correct, year, model and vin match, and they were imported properly, they will get them back.

She also said that a local classic car company in SoCal may be involved and that seizures will be happening here any day!

Right now it Rovers, recently it was Nissan Skylines, tomorrow....?

 

[lowenbrau]

A good attorney should be able to get the vehicle back if customs and Boarder Patrol approved it's prior entry. Fraud by another should not be punishable on the innocent victim. As long as the victim had no prior knowledge of said fraud...

In Canada, they call that type of person an "innocent possessor". It basically means that they won't press charges against the owner for illegal possession of a vehicle unfit for import. It doesn't mean that that unfit vehicle will be returned. It also doesn’t mean that the gov't will provide compensation. Any remedy is going to have to be wrestled out of the importer.

This Rover case is interesting because it is a collaboration between so many agencies. They are looking at more than just the 25 year DOT rule but also 21 year EPA rule for engines so a properly imported vehicle with a swapped in TD5 engine is going to get the thumbs down. I wonder how sticky they are going to be? Will they return a vehicle that is okay otherwise but has worn tie rod ends? Chipped windscreen? A roach in the glovebox? A jar of moonshine?

 

[Sam Stewart]

They have been cracking down on the engine swaps for years. Used to be, you could buy a half-cut for just about any vehicle/engine and get it shipped over. I used to know a guy that owned a shop here in GA that specialized in Nissans like 240s and Skylines. Well before it became popular like it is now. Probably like early 2000s if I recall. He used to travel back and forth between here and Japan buying up all kinds of stuff. Now most of those swaps would be "illegal" by the EPA standards.

For those that don't know a half-cut is exactly that. They cut the vehicle in half at the front "A" pillar and you get everything from the dash forward. Very helpful if you were doing swap because it had engine, trans, computers, wiring, etc. Bonus was you could also swap the Silvia front end onto your 240 and EXTRA cool.

 

[spotcruiser]

http://blog.timesunion.com/gettingt...rover-seized-as-possible-illegal-import/6251/

Federal investigators seized Danny Harrington’s Land Rover, saying the Albany man may have fallen victim to an illegal importer.
Authorities seized the vehicle Tuesday and Harrington said he was interviewed by investigators from the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday about the case.
“I was at work,” Harrington said. “The Land Rover was at my parents’ house in Guilderland.”
He said 10 federal agents showed up with a warrant to seize his vehicle, which he bought in December from a friend in Saratoga County. The friend had bought it in Virginia, he said.
He has title to it and filed it with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
But the vehicle’s identification number ended up on a federal list of Land Rovers that were illegally brought into the country.
Vincent Picard, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an emailed statement that vehicles across the country were seized as part of the ongoing investigation.
“ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents served court-ordered seizure warrants on approximately 40 Land Rovers in various locations around the country,” he said. “The seizures are being made pursuant to an ongoing criminal investigation involving the unlawful importation of the vehicles from Great Britain. The Land Rovers, which do not meet federal safety or emission standards, cannot be lawfully operated in the United States. The vehicle owners, who are victims of this criminal scheme, will have an opportunity to seek restitution for their losses.”

 

[White Stripe]

What if your just using the vehicle for offroad use? I mean I get that its illegal on public roads, but can they seize it if your not using it on roads? Or maybe you have a big farm and just plan on using it on your farm.