THE THREE men arrested by the Clarendon police in connection with Ash Wednesday's seizure of $13 million worth of allegedly stolen Toyota Hiace buses and spare parts, are to go before the May Pen Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Oral Simpson, described by the police yesterday as a former pastor, and bus operator, his 19-year-old son, Oral, Jnr., a bus conductor, and Patrick "Gary" Smith, of Hampton Green, St. Catherine, were arrested when the May Pen police raided three locations where a stolen motor vehicle ring was suspected to be operating.
The police said that the buses and spare parts they seized are valued at $13 million.
According to reports, the police who were acting on information, went to a shed that was blocked by debris at the front. The lawmen said that four of five men who were in the shed ran, but they chased them and held three.
The police seized three Toyota Hiace minibuses, a Nissan pick-up truck, a motorcycle and a large amount of parts, including engines and bus seats which were found in a separate wooden building.
According to a police officer involved in the raid, the activities of the men had been under observation for about a month. He said that the group, which operated in a sparsely populated area, is suspected of stealing minibuses, dismantling them, reassembling them, changing the colours, then selling them to unsuspecting customers.
