On Thu, 19 Oct 2000, jim bell wrote:
Naturally, a chemical solution (pun not directly intended...but I'll take it anyway) becomes apparent. If the ultimate motivation of the car siezures is to sell them and keep the money, what would happen if somebody acquired a few ounces or gallons of PCB's (poly-chlorinated biphenyls; common in 20+year-old (non-electrolytic) capacitors), and sprayed them (only a very tiny amount per car should be necessary, maybe 1 milliliter or so?) into those siezed cars though a broken window (or injected through door seals). Naturally, it would be important to anonymously call the local newspaper or TV stations and report on what had occurred, possibly the EPA as well. That car would suddenly change from a $10,000 asset into possibly a $100,000 liability for the agency which siezed them..
Just a thought
A thought, however, requiring people to handle PCB's -- which are no fun whatsoever, heavily regulated, hard to acquire (albeit relatively easy to synthesize), and all-around poisonous. That's damaging more than just the criminals in this case. That's damaging the planet. Instead, consider the possibilities of putrescine -- it's easier to synthesize, totally harmless ecologically speaking, legal to own (and legal to spill on your *own* property prior to seizure) and while it doesn't actually make the car into a 100K liability, it does make it so that nobody except a scrap metal dealer would ever pay any money for it. Don't inhale anywhere nearby after you open the vial though; If you do, you *will* puke. The stuff *NEVER* comes out, either. Bear