CARS STOLEN IN MEXICO END UP HERE; AUTHORITIES SUSPECT DMV EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

An investigation into a ring of smugglers that steals cars in Mexico and sells them in the United States focused Tuesday on whether DMV clerks helped by issuing fake titles, authorities said.

Cars and sport utility vehicles were seized Monday from a Chatsworth home and the racing car business owned by NBA player Latrell Sprewell, who authorities said did not appear to be involved.

During the 10-month investigation, four people were arrested and 18 vehicles have been seized, including 14 stolen from Mexico.

Now investigators are examining whether Department of Motor Vehicles employees illegally issued titles so the cars could be resold, said Detective Mason Burroughs, of the Los Angeles Police Department.

``I'm quite sure they're getting kickbacks,'' Burroughs said. ``We haven't found any exact employees. We are checking out the different angles.''

The DMV's chief spokesman declined to provide details about the investigation.

``We have a zero-tolerance policy for employee fraud and we pursue those cases vigorously,'' said DMV spokesman Evan Nossoff. ``It is a major priority for us to root out fraud.''

Detectives say the ring was exploiting a common perception, that cars are stolen in the United States and shipped outside the country. Instead, they are stolen in Mexico and simply driven over the border.

``We just stumbled on this. The twist is that it's coming the other way. They come into the U.S. undetected as a stolen car,'' said Lt. John O'Brien of TRAP - the Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention. ``We're creating victims in the United States. That's a big issue with us.''

TRAP is a multi-agency force that includes the Sheriff's Department, LAPD and other local police departments in Los Angeles County.

Mexican authorities said they also have discovered the wide reach of the ring.

``Every day in Mexico City, more than 80 cars are stolen. Most of them are coming here,'' said George Garcia-Villalobos, the head prosecutor for the Mexican Attorney General's Office in Los Angeles. ``This is a big, well-organized enterprise.''

The problem, detectives say, is that Mexico does not have the technological sophistication to track stolen cars. In the U.S., a stolen vehicle is placed into a nationwide computer system within 12 hours, but in Mexico that could take as long as six months.

Once cars are stolen, drivers present fake documents at the border and then claim to the DMV that they have lost the title or produce a fake Mexican title.

In the Chatsworth case, TRAP investigators seized a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Toyota 4Runner from the home on Monday. The victim, who was not identified by police, is out about $35,000, Burroughs said.

At Sprewell's racing business in San Gabriel, detectives found that Jeep Grand Cherokees, Ford pickups and Dodge Durangos were delivered there and sold to innocent victims, said TRAP Sgt. John DeMooy of the Sheriff's Department.