Operatives of the Delta State police command have busted a car-snatching syndicate and recovered 12 suspected stolen cars.
According to a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bright Edafe, operatves also arrested two suspects who specialised in vehicle chassis and engine number.
Edafe said: “On 11/04/24, at about 4:32p.m., information was received from one man (name withheld) of Abuja Road DSC Township Oruwhorun, that his Toyota Corolla car was stolen from where it was parked in Oruwhorun and that the said car was sighted along Eku/Warri road by Oha Junction in Okpe LGA.
“Immediately, the DPO of Orerokpe, CSP Paul Oboware, mobilised patrol teams alongside members of Oha community vigilantes and gave the suspects a hot chase to Army checkpoint at Orerokpe Junction and double-crossed the vehicle.
“Consequently, one Dickson Omage “m” age 47yrs of Post Office Road Effurun Warri was arrested, the vehicle was recovered, and a master key which the suspects used to carry out his nefarious activities was also recovered.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect and his gang are notorious for stealing cars from where parked both in the daytime and at night.
“Further investigation and interrogation of the suspect led to the arrest of two other suspects; Samson Ekwunwa ‘m’ age 40yrs and Kanebi Michael ‘m’ age 39yrs in Benin City on 19/04/24.
“The two suspects specialize in removing old chassis numbers and engine numbers and replacing them with new ones before putting the vehicles for sale and equally demobilizing vehicles with car trackers.
“A total of 12 suspected stolen vehicles were recovered from Benin City and Warri respectively.”
