Two men from North Trace, New Grant who the police arrested on May 29 in connection with a multi-million dollar vehicle-theft ring have been released from custody without charge pending further investigations.

Head of the Southern Division, Snr Supt Richard Smith, gave the confirmation on Saturday and renewed calls for the public to alert the police of any theft of vehicles and other crimes.

The two suspects, a 52-year-old garage owner and a 35-year-old painter/straightener, spent a few days in custody.

On May 31, two days after their arrests, Southern Division police had busted what is considered one of the biggest vehicle-theft rings in the nation with an estimated '$2 million to $3 million' worth of stolen auto parts in a forested area off North Trace.

'So far, we identified two vehicles of the many recovered. One was a Toyota Corolla Fielder that was stolen from the South Western Division. The other was a Toyota Aqua car that was stolen in 2021. You can imagine how this owner was so ecstatic to recover his car after so long,' Smith said.

'We are asking the public, if you see something, say something.'

Scores of people who believe that their vehicles might be one of the stolen vehicles have been visiting the Ste Madeleine, Princes Town and San Fernando police stations to view the items recovered.

Smith added that identifying the vehicles has been challenging as the engine and chassis numbers of almost all vehicles were tampered with.

He added that in the past week, the division has received technical support from members of the Forensic Science Centre in St James and the Stolen Vehicle Unit led by ASP Darryl Ramdass and Insp Lazarus.

The recovered parts included several scrapped and partially-scrapped vehicles cut in halves and quarters. The stolen parts include hundreds of engines, batteries, doors, windscreens, bumpers, and countless auto parts.

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