Car thief tries to smuggle car over the border, gets six years behind bars

The Regional Court in Mokopane, Limpopo on Thursday sentenced 35-year-old Shane Mthombeni to six years in prison for possession of a stolen motor vehicle believed to be on its way to be smuggled over the border.

Mthombeni was intercepted by police while driving a silver Toyota Fortuner at Nyl Toll Plaza along the N1 Highway late last month.

Car on its way to Zimbabwe

The court heard how members of the police’s provincial tracking unit and a private security company learnt the stolen vehicle would be driving from Gauteng Province along the N1 Highway to Beitbridge Port of Entry to be smuggled into Zimbabwe.

“The case of possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle was immediately opened against the accused and transferred to the Vehicle Investigation Unit for further handling. Preliminary investigations revealed that the vehicle was hijacked in Benoni on Wednesday 25 October 2023,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba.

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Unfit to possess a firearm

The investigation was finalised and the accused opted not to apply for bail. The court also declared Mthombeni unfit to possess a firearm.

“This conviction and the sentence will serve as a deterrent to would-be car thieves”, said Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe.

Signal jamming crime

In September, Gauteng law enforcement authorities lifted the lid on a sophisticated signal jamming operation targeting high-end motor vehicles.

The breakthrough came when two suspected thieves were nabbed in Naturena, South of Johannesburg, with three military-grade signal jammers.

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Police said the various implements believed to be used in vehicle theft and three vehicles suspected to be stolen were seized in operations to clamp down on vehicle hijackings.