Homeland "Security" Agents Raid Home to Seize Land Rover for Violation of EPA Regulations

[Maui]

Would this be difficult to import into US?

If it were easy I think there'd be a bunch of them around.

I read news story the other day about DHS raiding a house to take a Range Rover Defender because it did not meet US standards.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/exclusive-feds-declare-war-on-black-market-land-rover-defenders/

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1994 E60, Black/Black, 115kkm, JDM auction (Japan)

If it were easy I think there'd be a bunch of them around.

I read news story the other day about DHS raiding a house to take a Range Rover Defender because it did not meet US standards.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/exclusive-feds-declare-war-on-black-market-land-rover-defenders/

That was due to an importer back in the 1990s who was altering VINs and fraudulently importing new Defenders and representing them as older models that were exempt from import restrictions. The Feds were on the guy for quite some time.

They are also going after a few bogus G-wagens that were illegally imported.....

 

[gerryvz]

Re: FS: 1994 E60, Black/Black, 115kkm, JDM auction (Japan)

If you're interested to know more about the Land Rover Defender seizures by the Department of Homeland Security recently, here are a few threads on the topic. The situation has caused some consternation in the G-wagen community because all G-wagens older than 2002 in the USA (i.e. before MBUSA began officially importing them) are considered "gray-market" cars.

Luckily most all of them (including my own) were imported by Europa International, which was/is a legitimate firm that has been recognized by the US government as such.

On the G-wagen forum:

http://www.pointedthree.com/disc/forums/showthread.php?tid=21730&posts=29&start=1

http://www.pointedthree.com/disc/forums/showthread.php?tid=21769&posts=13&start=1

On the Land Rover forum:

http://www.defendersource.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54930

It appears that some of the seizures were in error, the a few seized trucks are en route back to their owners. I tell you, if I was one of these affected owners, I'd be ALL OVER the DHS in a lawsuit .. perhaps pursuing a class-action suit with other affected owners.

Chees,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

Note this is NOT the same story as in May 2013 (mentioned here) which was related to VINs.

Makes you nervous about owning any gray-market car, lest the jack-booted thugs show up at your door and forcibly take it out of your possession at (multiple) gun points.



http://www.infowars.com/homeland-se...-land-rover-for-violation-of-epa-regulations/

Homeland Security Agents Raid Home to Seize Land Rover For Violation of EPA Regulations
Posted By Paul Joseph Watson On July 29, 2014 @ 6:49 am In Featured Stories,Tile | No Comments

In another example of how the Department of Homeland Security has expanded far outside the purview of its original function, six vehicles full of DHS agents were required to seize a Land Rover from a couple in Statesville, N.C. due to the fact that the vehicle allegedly violates EPA emission standards.

As part of its mission to “protect the Homeland,” the DHS has been busy seizing imported vehicles that don’t comply with safety and CO2 regulations.

Jennifer and Bill Brinkley were satisfied that their $60,000 dollar purchase of a Land Rover Defender on eBay complied with regulations because it fell into the exemption category of a vehicle 25 years or older.

However, when DHS agents turned up at the property, they compared the car’s Vehicle Identification Number to a list and immediately seized the Land Rover. The couple were not given “a chance to debate the issue.”

WBTV’s Steve Ohnesorge said DHS agents conducted “almost like a raid to get the car.”

“it’s just unnerving the way they did it,” said Bill Brinkley.

The feds have given the Brinkley’s 35 days to appeal the seizure but refuse to tell them where the vehicle is located. The DHS has also failed to respond to media requests about the incident.

The Department of Homeland Security, created in the aftermath of 9/11, was tasked with the role of protecting America from terrorists, man-made accidents and natural disasters. However, the DHS has been turned into a national police force with a remit that extends from seizing websites for copyright infringement to confiscating fake NFL merchandise.

As the Rutherford Institute’s John Whitehead explained in a widely circulated article last month, the DHS is becoming America’s domestic standing army.

“The menace of a national police force, aka a standing army, vested with so much power cannot be overstated, nor can its danger be ignored,” wrote Whitehead, before listing numerous examples of how the DHS is instrumental in pushing America’s decline into a militarized police state.

One such example occurred earlier this month in Greenville, North Carolina, when teams of armed DHS agents showed up outside a courthouse building. There was no threat to the building – the purpose of the agents’ presence was to “let people know they’re in the area,” while encouraging residents to snitch on their neighbors via the ‘See Something, Say Something’ program.

In another incident, the DHS conducted a military-style invasion of a small town in Illinois complete with armored vehicles, a Black Hawk helicopter and a phalanx of heavy duty equipment and weaponry. It subsequently emerged that the reason behind the show of force – which spooked locals – was to apprehend one man for downloading indecent images on his computer.

Given this history, the Brinkleys should probably count themselves lucky that they didn’t have guns pointed at their head during the seizure of the Land Rover, which the DHS apparently sees as a bigger threat to America than the nation’s porous borders and the fact that the TSA, a subdivision of the DHS, allows illegal aliens to board planes without identification.

[youtube]H8yg-4IoRPo[/youtube]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8yg-4IoRPo​

 

[gerryvz]

It is a closely related saga...just played out at two different points in time. Basically they raided the guys house and nabbed a bunch of vehicles he was "preparing" for sale, last year. The 2013 raid was of the "importer". The 2014 raids were of owners.

This year (just last week) they actually went after several dozen vehicles that were actually in the hands of owners, some for a decade or longer.

The whole Land Rover Defender thing is a complicated saga, because there was one year (some years back) where Land Rover was allowed by the Feds to import Defenders freely without the normal/extensive "Federalization" process, and a lot of vehicles came into the country that year that technically by the rules of that year are 100% legal.

It is similar to my Honda FSC600. The Feds made an exemption for these bikes to allow Honda to import 500 per year because they don't have a standard/mandated rear "foot pedal" brake as motorcycles are supposed to, rather using a rear hand brake. They often do odd things and one-time exemptions like that.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gerryvz]

Interestingly, this whole saga recently came to a (fairly) happy ending for the owners of the involved Land Rovers. The Feds admitted they F'd up, and has agreed to release all of them back to their owners. I'll post more info when I get it....

 

[Maui]

I find it sad that Homeland Security is so busy confiscating vehicles over stupid little issues while thousands of illegals come across the border every day. I would guess the latter does much more harm to the country than a few Range Rovers. Our government's priorities have been turned upside down.

 

[Ntrepid]

If only the illegal immigrants were driving the Land Rovers across the border, would we get a 2-for-1.


Robert

 

[Stuka]

Interestingly, this whole saga recently came to a (fairly) happy ending for the owners of the involved Land Rovers. The Feds admitted they F'd up, and has agreed to release all of them back to their owners. I'll post more info when I get it....

They admitted their error? Wow, that's a first. Must have pissed off some pretty influential and determined collectors.

 

[gsxr]

They admitted their error? Wow, that's a first.

"Admitted" may be a strong word. My guess: They quietly dropped the matter and moved on to harassing other innocent victims.

 

[500Eboard]

My understanding is that the owners of the vehicles hired some pretty powerful lawyers.