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Jun 12, 2008 9:35 pm US/Central
Dallas Co. Shuts Down Fake Car Inspection Station
GRAND PRAIRIE (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Have you ever heard of the clean air emissions task force? Dallas County has one and Thursday it busted a Grand Prairie business for selling up to 500 illegal state inspection stickers a week.
"I saw a lot of cops walking around the building," said Pablo Chavez, who witnessed the bust. "Then I saw some guys handcuffed and they took them in the car."
The business, located at 3200 East Jefferson, was busted for issuing state inspection stickers illegally. Edi Garcia, 45, was arrested. A second suspect remains at large.
"This organization was bringing in about $1.5 million profit per year," said Dallas County Judge Jim Foster, a member of the Dallas County Clean Air Emissions Task Force.
The inspection stickers were legitimate. The process of obtaining them was far from it. According to county investigators, the stickers were sold in bulk to small used-car dealerships. But the cars either failed emissions tests or were never tested at all.
"This has a huge environmental impact," said Foster. "About 10 percent of the cars cause about 50 percent of the emission problems. By cleaning up these fake inception stations, then we can clean up the environment."
The cost of an inspection sticker for emissions is $39, but investigators say the business was charging $85 per sticker, earning upwards of $25,000 a week.
The Clean Air Emissions Taskforce says the charges may be upgraded to organized crime pending the arrest of several other suspects.
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