Police believe they have cracked a cars-to-order car theft syndicate operated by men from Soweto after the arrest of five men on Wednesday.
The men – two of whom were nabbed as they attempted to steal a car from Pretoria’s Moreleta Square shopping centre – were found in possession of a Toyota master key and a system modulator override.
This system, once plugged in, overrides any car’s security system and allows the would-be thieves to drive off without having to worry about immobilisers or alarm systems.
In the two cars that the men had arrived in – a yellow and white VW Golf and a black Peugeot 206 – police recovered old engine computer boxes, allen keys, four cellphones, licence plates and screw drivers.
The allen keys are apparently used to pry open the keyhole and the ignition to unlock the steering wheel.
It has since been established that the Peugeot 206 had been reported stolen in Durban several months ago. Police are trying to determine whether the licence plates are from stolen vehicles.
Closer examination of the cellphones led to the discovery of several MMS picture messages of cars, including a Golf 4 GTI, Toyota sedan and a Toyata Hilux bakkie, with question marks next to them.
Sources close to the investigation believe this was the way the cars to be stolen were identified and “ordered”.
It has yet to be established whether the cars pictured on the cellphones had already been stolen or were to be stolen.
The discovery of the Toyota master key for a Hilux bakkie along with the system override device has led police to investigate links to people working in the manufacturing of Toyotas. This is because the system override device is not available from dealerships but has to be procured from the factory.
Wednesday’s bust was as a result of eagle-eyed security guards patrolling the open-air car park at the shopping centre.
At about 1pm they spotted two of the five men walking past a section of the parking lot several times before stopping at one of the vehicles. They became suspicious and alerted the Garsfontein police.
A small contingent of police officers responded without sirens. The guards pointed out the suspects and three others in a vehicle nearby that they believe were lookouts.
The officers surrounded both and carried out the arrests.
The men did not attempt to flee the scene and no weapons were drawn or shots fired.
Questioning of the men revealed that they were from Soweto. They are expected to appear in court soon.
The arrests come hot on the heels of the shutting of a chop shop that was dealing mainly in bakkies.
During that raid, police found bakkies that had been stripped of parts and the chassis and engine numbers scraped off.
Police also found engines, gearboxes, loading bins, doors and other parts of twin-cab bakkies.
A month ago members of the Tshwane Metro Police arrested a man in Mamelodi, believed to be part of a gang stealing vehicles from car dealerships.
He was arrested when police pounced on him after officers received a radio alert to be on the lookout for a black Audi that had been used in an attempt to steal another vehicle in Brooklyn.
The vehicle was traced to Mamelodi West where police discovered another stolen car, a VW Golf GTI. Officers also discovered 24 sets of car keys for various car models.
The gang was going to car dealerships to “test drive” vehicles. When its members returned, they gave the dealership fake keys and then they went back later to steal the cars, using the original keys.
Investigators are now looking at whether the incidents are related and were on Wednesday night following up on several leads at a number of warehouses in Pretoria and surrounds.
The five men are expected to appear in court soon
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Pretoria News