Technology outsmarts hijackers

Technology successfully outsmarted truck hijackers at the weekend when container locks fitted with satellite tracking devices foiled their attempts.



According to Johan Robinson of CPI Risk Management Solutions, a 40ft container was hijacked at the Harrismith highway junction where hijackers overpowered the driver and attached a signal jammer to the cigarette socket in the truck cab causing the horse tracking unit to stop updating.



“The CPI unit, however, updated as per normal and when the container arrived in Johannesburg the CPI control room noticed that that the driver was not driving towards the offloading point," said Robinson.

“The container was headed in the direction of Midrand and all attempts to make contact with the driver failed.”

According to Robinson, it was delivered to a plot in Glen Austin in Midrand where it was discovered by CPI members.  “A shootout ensued between CPI and the hijackers. The SAPS was called in for support, all six hijackers were arrested and the load was recovered intact. The signal jammer was also found in the truck, still plugged in.”

This underscores how important it is to follow standard operating procedures to the letter, says Robinson.

“This particular driver took an alternative route to bypass the toll gates and especially the weighbridge.

“The police conduct random searches of the vehicles at the weighbridge to look for possible hijackers in the cab. If the truck had followed the SOP and gone through the weighbridge the chances are good that the police would have discovered the hijackers.”