IAATI’s Award of Merit was created in 1992 to honor a person, group, department or company for outstanding contribution in the area of vehicle theft investigation or prevention.

Our 2022 winner of the Award of Merit is Deputy Commissioner of the Province of Chubut, Argentina Sebastian Martin Bevilacqua.

Deputy Commissioner Bevilacqua unfortunately was not able to join us in Chicago. He was in a motor vehicle accident and thankfully, is now recovering. Accepting on his behalf was Mr. Daniel Beck, President of the LatAm Branch.

A joint operation in Trelew, capital city of Chubut, involved the Dangerous Drugs Division and the Motor Vehicle Theft Division as they conducted a series of effective investigations into car sale scams and organized theft rings. A total of 70 seizures (including cars and motorbikes) were made after multiple investigations, raids of garages, bodywork and paint shops, and places where cars were sold and purchased. According to police sources, these raids yielded 200 vehicle parts, including alternators, hoods, doors, windshields, carburetors, semi-assembled engines, engine blocks, tailgates plus cutting tools, grinders and loosening tools used for the theft and disassembly of vehicles. These investigators also managed to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to stealing cars by using copies of ignition keys or with stolen keys. This group proved to be a “cell" focused on stealing vehicles to subsequently perpetrate criminal acts. In a high-profile operation, police in Chubut conducted over 20 raids leading to 7 arrests and the dismantling of a gang of swindlers involving a former Trelew police commissioner. Deputy Commissioner Sebastian Martin Bevilacqua is to be commended for his leadership of these highly successful operations and his units’ consistent and effective use of multiple investigative techniques with outstanding results, despite limited resources.