When a car thief decided to steal a vehicle from the auto lot of a local car dealership, he made one mistake. The mistake was not taking into account that the case would be handed to Major Jan van Straten and his elite Cluster Project Team…
A foreign national managed to steal a VW Amarok from the parking lot of a major dealership in town on Monday, March 9.
It is unclear how he managed to avoid security personnel and systems, or how he managed to start the vehicle and simply drive it off the lot and speed out of town. Staff at the dealership only noticed that the vehicle was missing the next morning (Tuesday, March 10).
The matter was then reported to police. Fast-acting officers immediately responded to the theft of the vehicle, which was fitted with a car-tracking device. Local police realised that the vehicle would most likely be destined for a cross-border marketplace.
“When these types of vehicles are stolen, they are normally smuggled across the SA border,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Leonard Hlathi. “Normally it is Toyota Fortuners and double-cab diesel bakkies that are smuggled across. Amaroks are not usually smuggled across,” he added.
The Cluster Project Team alerted all border posts to be on the lookout for the Amarok.
The vehicle was spotted at the Komatipoort border post in Mpumalanga by alert border police. The suspect was a Mozambican national with SA residency. It was discovered that the suspect had a previous stolen vehicle case against him and that he was out on bail.
The case has been transferred to the Komatipoort VIS Unit. The Cluster Project Team handles all high-profile cases within Northern KZN.
Police believe a syndicate is operating, as more than one person was involved in the theft of the vehicle. They are continuing their investigation, both here and in Komatipoort.
