Police Say Human Smugglers Stealing License Plates

Posted: Apr 2, 2012 7:39 PM
Updated: Apr 2, 2012 6:50 PM

South Texas police say human smugglers are starting to steal license plates. They're not taking your car, just the plates.

Thieves are staking out parking lots all over South Texas looking for license plates to steal.

"If it's a certain vehicle like this Ford F-150, they look for a similar vehicle, the same year," says Sgt. Danny Davila. "They steal the license plate and they're putting it onto the back of the stolen vehicle."

Davila works for the Brooks County sheriff in Falfurrias.

"And it may just be the front license plate," says Davila.

He says you may not even notice yours is missing.

"Let's say for instance this Ford right here and this other Ford that's sitting down here. All they'll come do is get the front license plate off this vehicle. If it's the same year, Ford pickup truck F-150, they'll put it on the back of this truck," says Davila.

It's a clever tactic for smugglers. When deputies spot them out on the roads, they call dispatch and run the plates.

"So if you run it, it comes back to Jordan Williams, it's not stolen, but in reality, this truck is stolen, and it belongs to someone else," says Davila.

The plates make smugglers who may be from Houston look like they're local.

"It could be out of Alice. It could be out of Kingsville, any of these areas, so it doesn't seem too odd to us," says Davila.

Davila says authorities would have to check the vin number to find whose car it really is. Davila says smugglers often don't go to the trouble to change both sets of plates.

"The front license plate of the vehicle will be a different from the back because they won't change that. They'll change the back and put the different plate in the back," says Davila.

Deputies' best advice is to check your car. Call them if your license plate is missing.

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