Illegally Imported, Unsafe Land Rover Vehicle Destroyed in Baltimore
A Land Rover Defender seized by CBP officers as an illegal and unsafe import was destroyed in an undisclosed Maryland salvage yard on Aug. 13, CBP reported. The vehicle was one of dozens that violated highway safety standards, including standards requiring airbags, CBP said. The Defender was one of many vehicles stopped at ports of entry in cities including Philadelphia, Norfolk, Va., Charleston, S.C., and Tacoma, Wash. Such Defenders were “represented on import entry documents as being 25 years of age or older, but may actually be newer vehicles whose Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) have been fraudulently altered.”
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CBP said that a portion of these illegal shipments will require destruction because of their “altered and/or manipulated” VINs. According to CBP, these “fraudulent actions are intended to take advantage of the exemptions within the statutes and regulations” administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “that allow older, nonconforming vehicles to be imported without restriction.” The Defender had an overseas value of around $25,000, but CBP said that “the resale value in the U.S. can run as much as $150,000 per vehicle depending on its model year and condition.” CBP said that “their rarity also inflates the stateside purchase price” because the vehicles cannot be lawfully imported unless they are at least 25 years old.