Twelve suspects, including police officers, were arrested in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the fraudulent registration of imported second-hand vehicles.
The police together with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) confiscated 400 vehicles in East London, King Williams Town and Komga.
Police Spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana says the arrests follow after a complaint was received regarding possible illegally imported motor vehicles which were being registered and introduced into the National Traffic Information System fraudulently.
The syndicate involved foreign nationals, officials from the Eastern Cape department of transport's help desk, SAPS members and vehicle testing stations.
The suspects allegedly colluded in an elaborate scheme where imported second-hand vehicles destined for neighbouring countries were being fraudulently sold and registered in South Africa.
Kinana says they also arrested an examiner from a privately owned vehicle testing station and four so-called middlemen.
The suspects will appear in the Komga Magistrates Court on Friday.
More arrests are expected.
