‘Joe Ferrari’ seized smuggled luxury cars even before they crossed the border

Records show some of these cars had been “confiscated” even before they crossed the border.

Of the 410 luxury cars seized by ex-police station chief Pol Colonel Thitisan Uthanapol, 270 had been reported stolen overseas, deputy National Police chief Pol General Suchart Theerasawat told the press on Monday.

“Of the 270, 101 had been reported stolen before being seized and 169 were reported after being confiscated,” he said. “We also have evidence showing that other officers were also involved in this scam.

“We believe Thitisan and his gang have been confiscating smuggled luxury cars and submitting them to the Customs Department for auction after pocketing 5 per cent of the estimated price as finder’s fee,” Suchart said. “We are investigating to see if the buyers of these cars are also related to the gang. The investigation team should be able to file charges within November.”

Suchart said most of these cars had been smuggled from Singapore and Malaysia.

Thitisan was arrested on August 26 for allegedly demanding 2 million baht from two drug suspects on August 5 before suffocating the male suspect to death with plastic bags. He then allegedly ordered the doctor to attribute the death to a drug overdose and told the other suspect to remain quiet.

After the station chief’s arrest, the National Anti-Corruption Commission launched a probe into his finances, especially since Thitisan, who is known on social media as “Joe Ferrari” for his lavish lifestyle and collection of sports cars, became unusually wealthy. Thitisan reportedly owns a mansion, several sports cars and assets worth millions of baht.

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