SAPS concerned that export
containers are now being targeted
IT'S BEEN a quiet Christmas for container theft syndicates in the Durban area, according to a South African Police spokesperson, and only one container has been reported stolen in recent weeks.
One man was arrested when police from the Truck Theft Unit cracked a case at Phoenix near Durban late last month. Acting on a tip-off police raided several houses in the residential area north of the city and recovered 6600 rolls of fabric. They said the goods came from a container stolen from the vicinity of Pier 1 at Durban harbour. A false release order had been used to remove the container.
During December a previous member of the Truck Theft Unit was found guilty in a Durban court of being involved in the theft of containers from the harbour and from private depots. He is now awaiting sentencing.
A spokesperson for the Truck Theft Unit, speaking in his personal capacity, admitted that he was suspicious of the apparent lack of activity in recent weeks. These syndicates don't just give up, he told FTW.
They are either focusing on other areas such as Gauteng, or else, with bail no longer being so easy to obtain for Schedule 5 offences (syndicate theft), they have found it more difficult to get inside help. He said that recent measures by Portnet to tighten up access to the terminals had helped, but this wasn't foolproof especially if false papers were obtained.
I just don't believe the crooks have given up. Personally, I believe they are concentrating on export containers instead, he said. He said that the practice was for thieves to 'interrupt' the transport chain, remove the contents of an export container, refill the boxes with sand or rocks and then allow the boxes to continue their journey in the normal fashion. That way nothing gets reported at this end.
One of the problems the police are complaining about is what they say is a lack of collaboration from insurance companies, who conduct their own investigations but seldom involve the police. The first we know about some thefts is when we get a tip-off and recover the boxes,' he said.
By Terry Hutson
