Uganda Police force has busted a Boda Boda theft gang that steals from cars while parked in different places such as supermarkets, restaurants, and markets.
The car owners trailed are people who have been to the bank not so long ago.
Investigations show that one Boda Boda rider trails a specific car coming from the bank until its next stop and when the car owner moves out, they break into the car and steal from it.
Security which has been following the leads later devised techniques of curbing this criminality which in the end paid off.
According to Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, the CCTV Command Centre in coordination with the Territorial Police at Kira division, have in custody, a Boda Boda rider caught on camera while carrying out this kind of criminality.
“We managed to track and arrest a Boda Boda rider of motorcycle registration number UFG 326 Z, identified as Mawazi Jimmy after he was captured at various CCTV zones, actively surveilling unsuspecting clients from banks, up to the stage where they park their vehicles, to either go shopping or make stopovers, for lunch or drinks,” he said.
Enanga reveals that the Boda Boda rider alerts his accomplices with vehicle intrusion devices in a motor vehicle who would immediately come into contact with the targeted vehicle, break in, and rob the cash and other valuables.
The suspects were using two vehicles, a Toyota spacio and Toyota wish to rob their targets.
In this case, they trailed a female victim from KCB bank, at Lugogo Shopping Mall, till she made a stopover at a supermarket in Sonde.
As soon as she entered the supermarket, her motor vehicle was broken into and cash amounting to 50 million was robbed. More than 20 similar reports of car break-ins have been reported within the area, where the suspects’ car is parked next to the targeted car.
In addition, new technology has also made it easier for car break-ins at driveways and parking lots at night.
The perpetrators use electronic devices, typically used by mechanics to reprogram the factory settings and also disconnect the alarms, from below the dashboard. This enables them to strip the vehicle, of its spare parts and electronic gadgets.
“Our joint task teams remain active and aggressive in their efforts to combat car break-ins. As we pursue more suspects of the gang, we encourage all managers of financial intuitions, supermarkets, other business premises, to adopt real-time monitoring mechanisms, in their parking slots and CCTV monitoring rooms,” Enanga said.
Everyone should be on high alert most especially if you are moving around with huge amounts of money.