LOS ANGELES -- Five people suspected of stealing about $4.5 million worth of luxury cars and shipping them overseas were arrested, a Lojack spokesman said Wednesday.
The names of the subjects were not immediately available. Sixty-seven luxury cars were stolen, eight of which were recovered, and authorities believe about 300 other cars were stolen across the U.S. over the past three years, according to Paul McMahon of Lojack Corp., which helped find the cars.
Lojack makes anti-theft transceivers that enable police to track stolen vehicles.
In October, a Santa Monica-based Lexus dealer notified police that a 2008 Lexus LS460 was fraudulently purchased from his dealership, McMahon said. Members of the Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention started tracking the vehicle via Lojack and, three hours later, found the Lexus in a cargo container at the Port of Los Angeles, he said.
Also in the container was a stolen 2008 Corvette, and another container with two stolen cars was seized, McMahon said.
Task Force members determined that two other containers with stolen vehicles inside had already been shipped. Those containers were recalled, and investigators recovered a 2008 BMW, two 2008 Mercedes-Benzes and a 2008 Corvette -- collectively worth about $400,000, he said.
