Friend’s stolen Prado spotted en route to Mozambique

MBOMBELA – The Johannesburg owner of a Toyota Prado was in luck when his friends spotted his stolen vehicle in Ngondwana en route to Mozambique on Sunday morning.

The vehicle’s owner and his friends would have left in convoy for a holiday to Mozambique on Tuesday morning. The friends were passing through to Mbombela on their way to the border when they received a phone call that their friend’s Prado, containing all the holiday groceries, had been stolen in Johannesburg.

As fate would have it, the stolen car appeared in front of them near Ngondwana moments later. They phoned the owner to verify the Mozambican registration plate and confirmed that it was his vehicle.

Capt Pieter Smit of the White River Flying Squad was called to the scene and apprehended the suspect near Halls Gateway on the N4.

He said it was clear that the lock on the door had been forced open, presumably with an Allen key. The same device was also found in the ignition.

Smit said the suspect was on his way to Mozambique. He had an unsuspecting family of four of Johannesburg with him in the car who had only used the vehicle as a taxi to get to their destination. They allegedly paid the suspect R2 500 to transport them. They were dropped at Halls to find alternative transport to the neighbouring country.

The suspect allegedly told Smit that he was paid R1 500 to take the vehicle to Maputo and that he had not stolen it.

By the time of his arrest he had already disposed of the vehicle’s original registration papers and replaced them with forged ones. He was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property. All the groceries were still in the car.

Smit ordered the theft unit to have the car’s stolen status cleared so the family could resume their holiday plans. The owner and his family flew to Mbombela and will continue their journey to Mozambique before the end of the week.