Biker says motorcycle riders in Venezuela are being killed for spare vehicle parts

Motorcyclist.
(Image credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

The leader of Venezuela's National Socialist Federation of Motorbikers says that shortages of motorcycle parts are leading people to kill riders for their bikes.

"Well-dressed women participate in the scam," Jorge Montaño told Reuters. "They ask for a taxi ride, and when you arrive there is a thief waiting to rob you. Sometimes our companions don't want to hand over the motorcycle and they shoot them in the legs or they kill them." Montaño said that 17 people have been killed for their bikes so far this year in his home state of Vargas.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.