Mi7 National Group received information from a local fuel station in the Pietermaritzburg CBD requesting assistance with an investigation into several vehicles whose drivers allegedly used cloned bank cards and other fraudulent means to purchase large amounts of diesel from the premises.
It is believed the vehicles had, over the course of a weekend, entered the fuel station using false license plates. There were several vehicles used, mostly bakkies, equipped with large tanks or flow bins at the rear. They allegedly purchased large amounts of diesel using fraudulent bank cards.
This single fuel station was robbed in this way for about R126,000 in diesel. Days later, the bank had notified them that the transactions were carried out using fraudulent bank cards. This is when Mi7 was contacted.
It is believed this is only one of several other fuel stations targeted by the same syndicate in the city.
Mi7’s Strategic Threat Response Unit was immediately dispatched to the premises, and accessed surveillance footage of the incidents. The vehicles’ information was then loaded onto the Mi7 Surveillance Net – a system of more than 100 cameras across the region equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition software.
A day later, on Friday last week, the system picked up a lead.
A vehicle with the same plates as one believed to be used in the theft was flagged by a Mi7 camera in the Ashburton
area. It appeared the vehicle was carrying a large quantity of fuel in its attached flow bin.
Several Mi7 units were dispatched, and a widespread search ensued. Initially, the vehicle could not be found.
Then, after Mi7 teams were stationed at strategic entry and exit points, success.
A vehicle matching the same description flagged by the Mi7 Surveillance Net was spotted – only this time, it had a
legitimate license plate and no fuel in the flow bin. Nonetheless, this drew the team’s suspicion. A short chase ensued, and the vehicle was brought to a halt.
The SAPS Pietermaritzburg Task Team and Crime Intelligence was called out to assist, and upon their arrival, the vehicle was searched. Inside, the cloned license plate, matching the fuel station’s surveillance footage and the Mi7 Surveillance Net’s data, was found. It is believed the syndicate used the cloned plates only when the crime was being committed, and when delivery of the fuel was being made, thereafter being swapped out for the vehicle’s legitimate license plates to avoid detection.
The two suspects inside directed police and Mi7 teams to a residential premises in Ashburton where they said the fuel was sold. There, one suspect, believed to be one of the masterminds of the syndicate, was found.
He was found in possession of more than 1000 litres of fuel, as well as other evidence linking him to the theft and
illegal sale of diesel. The syndicate is believed to have worked with in conjunction with fuel attendants to process payments for fuel from the fraudulent cards.
Further investigations are continuing into other members of the syndicate. Meanwhile, all three suspects appeared in
a Pietermaritzburg court yesterday.
Mi7 National Group cracks fuel theft syndicate in Pietermaritzburg CBD https://t.co/B49yHs41gp#ArriveAlive #FuelTheftSyndicate #Mi7NationalGroup pic.twitter.com/VHU86bLRro
– Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) May 14, 2024
