Update: I'm being told by my original source that I am late in posting this and that the chop shop(s) I was referring to are no longer in operation at the locations where they were before. No word on if they were permanently closed by law enforcement or simply moved away. Begin original post.
There exists in East Greensboro at least 2 chop shops that have been in constant operation for well over a decade. For those who might not be aware, a chop shop is a place where stolen automobiles are cut into pieces which are then sold as used parts.
A legal variation of the chop shop is in cutting cars up to get around huge tariffs on US imports into foreign countries. Often it is actually cheaper to disassemble a car, export the parts then reassemble the car than to import complete cars because of import tariffs and the fact that many more cars can be packed into the same amount of shipping container when parted out. Another reason for parting out perfectly good cars is that the sum value of the parts is often more than the value of a working car.
One of these chop shops is Arab owned and is at least quasi-legal. In fact, it may be entirely legal. In my previous business dealings with them I saw nothing that concerned me or the NC DMV who looked over the paperwork I filed in doing business with the Arab group. The Arab chop shop buys used cars, cuts them up into parts and ships them overseas where the cars are reassembled or sold for parts. The Greensboro businessman killed in Central America late last year was one of the owners of that chop shop.
The other chop shop(s), African owned, have been operating outside the law for years and is the larger of the two. It is located in the ORD section of East Greensboro.The African owned shop has been the target of investigations by the NC DMV and other law enforcement agencies but because everyone involved are foreign nationals law enforcement has been unable to remove this scourge from East Greensboro. Each time someone is busted they are deported only to be replaced by a new face with a clean criminal record. Well, that and the fact that certain individuals want to keep their buildings rented.
On warm days when the doors are open to allow air flow through the many un air-conditioned chop shops, their operations can be seen simply by slowly driving through ORD and looking inside. If you're brave enough to venture into the alleys out back you might even see more evidence of what I'm talking about. Some of it even goes on in buildings with NAI Piedmont Triad signs out front. Just remember you will be tresspassing on private property controlled by what might be dangerous criminals.
Funny thing is: Guilford County and the City of Greensboro could close this blight on our community at any given time simply by enforcing existing zoning ordinances against operating new auto salvage operations in Greensboro and Guilford County. Is the Greensboro developer who owns these properties so well connected with local government that local "leaders" fear him or her?
I've known about this problem for years but kept it a secret because I knew an ongoing investigation was going on but as is too often the case, investigators are hindered by the politics of wealth and political power. So rather than keep it a secret any longer I thought my readers should know about what our "leaders" knowingly allow to go on in East Greensboro.
And then there's the tale of the Bartlett brothers and their roving red tow truck. I'm told Robbie knew their daddy, Amos. But I'll save that for another day.
