Ex-police chief probe uncovers garage full of classic cars

October 31, 2020

A Rolls-Royce and a pink Cadillac El Dorado were among the vehicles seized.

The search of a house owned by a former Mexico City police chief turned up a garage full of pristine classic cars and other vehicles, the Attorney General’s Office revealed.

Authorities executing a search warrant at the home of Raymundo Collins in Tequesquitengo, Morelos, said they found 41 vintage vehicles, three personal watercraft, an ATV, a motorcycle and a boat. Various works of art were also seized.

An arrest warrant for Collins, currently a fugitive of justice who is wanted by Interpol, was issued on September 8, accusing the longtime bureaucrat of unlawful use of power, punishable with up to two years in prison.

During Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard’s tenure as mayor of Mexico City, Collins was in charge of the Central de Abasto, the largest wholesale and retail market in the world.

Collins was also head of Mexico City’s housing program from 2012 through 2018 during the Miguel Ángel Mancera administration when the alleged abuse of power occurred and was deputy police chief when President López Obrador was mayor of the city.

In March, Collins was prohibited from holding office in Mexico City for 20 years and ordered to pay a fine of 320 million pesos (US $15.1 million) after it was found he illegally acquired a property in Álvaro Obregón.

Since current Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum took office, arrest warrants have been issued for three other Mancera-era public officials and two others have been arrested on charges of corruption.