TWO ARRESTED AND OVER £100,000 OF STOLEN PLANT EQUIPMENT RECOVERED IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC!
A West Midlands based civils and groundworks company was visited by two men looking to hire a Takeuchi TB217 excavator. With paperwork, ID and payment all appearing legitimate, the machine was hired out and transported to London for work over the weekend.
Unbeknown to our customer, the documents were fraudulent. Days later, when checking their TritonTrak system, they were shocked to discover the machine was no longer in the UK - it had crossed multiple borders and was now showing in the Czech Republic.
After failed attempts to speak with the hirers, the company contacted the TritonTrak Response Team on Tuesday morning. Within hours, our network of connections was activated. NCATT and INTERPOL began securing the necessary warrants while local officers closed in on the accurate GPS location, a truck stop just outside Prague.
On arrival, authorities quickly identifi ed the lorry carrying the stolen machine. When they opened the doors, they uncovered a haul worth over £100,000, including three excavators, generators, wacker plates and small tools.
What made the operation even more remarkable was what they found next: parked beside the lorry was an Audi, with two men asleep inside. The very same individuals who had hired the machine just days earlier. Both were arrested at the scene.
By 5:00pm that day, the customer’s machine had been reloaded and was ready to begin its journey home.
A huge well done to everyone involved. This was a fantastic collaborative effort with recovery achieved the very same day.
