The two remaining imported luxury Mercedes-Benz vehicles stolen from the East London harbour last week by thieves posing as employees of a vehicle logistics company have been recovered.
The vehicles were found on Tuesday in Butterworth and Durban’s Umlazi township after a team of police detectives and private investigators worked around the clock to crack the case.
A third vehicle was recovered earlier in the week in Mthatha.
The E-400 coupé – valued at R911748 – was discovered on Saturday hidden in a shack in the Slovo Park informal settlement.
The vehicle recovered on Tuesday in Umlazi – also found at a private residence – has been identified as a C220d coupé valued at R569900.
Exact details of the one traced in Butterworth were not immediately released but it is also a C-Class coupé.
All three were stolen last week by thieves posing as employees of CAT-WWL Logistics, a company contracted by Mercedes-Benz SA to drive the vehicles from the port for dispatch to intended customers.
The theft took place at 9.50am on Wednesday, not long after a cargo ship carrying dozens of Mercedes-Benz vehicles from Germany docked at the car terminal.
Security at the facility is usually tight as at any given time there are hundreds of luxury vehicles parked on quayside.
The area is monitored by CCTV cameras and every vehicle that leaves or enters is registered by security personnel.
Despite the recovery success, CAT-WWL has refused to comment on the matter.
“We are not going to comment on this,” said Morne Ferreira, a manager at their East London office, when contacted.
A KwaZulu-Natal private investigator, Shaheen Suleiman of Magma Investigations, confirmed he was hired by the company to investigate the theft.
Suleiman said he assembled a team of seven investigators in an effort to trace the vehicles.
“We worked flat-out to find these vehicles. They were found in Mthatha, Durban and Butterworth.
“They were hidden but our investigation led us to them and four suspects have been arrested,” he said, adding that they had worked closely with the East London police’s vehicle theft unit.
“This was made possible as we worked with the SAPS East London team.”
Suleiman would not reveal how they tracked the vehicles, but said intelligence gathering had helped.
“We had a strong team and we couldn’t sleep once we started on this case. Unfortunately we can’t reveal much information as the investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
Suleiman confirmed that the three vehicles were all coupé models, which are not manufactured at the East London Mercedes-Benz plant.
“All the three vehicles were coupés, with one E-Class and two C-Class models.”
He said there were no signs of damage to the vehicles. “They are safe with us now.”
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said a syndicate was suspected of being behind the theft.
“We can confirm that all three vehicles have been recovered and currently four suspects have been arrested.
“More arrests are imminent as we suspect that this could be a work of a syndicate,” said Fatyela.
Last two stolen luxury Mercedes-Benz recovered
The vehicles were found on Tuesday in Butterworth and Durban’s Umlazi township after a team of police detectives and private investigators worked around the clock to crack the case.
A third vehicle was recovered earlier in the week in Mthatha.
The E-400 coupé – valued at R911748 – was discovered on Saturday hidden in a shack in the Slovo Park informal settlement.
The vehicle recovered on Tuesday in Umlazi – also found at a private residence – has been identified as a C220d coupé valued at R569900.
Exact details of the one traced in Butterworth were not immediately released but it is also a C-Class coupé.
All three were stolen last week by thieves posing as employees of CAT-WWL Logistics, a company contracted by Mercedes-Benz SA to drive the vehicles from the port for dispatch to intended customers.
The theft took place at 9.50am on Wednesday, not long after a cargo ship carrying dozens of Mercedes-Benz vehicles from Germany docked at the car terminal.
Security at the facility is usually tight as at any given time there are hundreds of luxury vehicles parked on quayside.
The area is monitored by CCTV cameras and every vehicle that leaves or enters is registered by security personnel.
Despite the recovery success, CAT-WWL has refused to comment on the matter.
“We are not going to comment on this,” said Morne Ferreira, a manager at their East London office, when contacted.
A KwaZulu-Natal private investigator, Shaheen Suleiman of Magma Investigations, confirmed he was hired by the company to investigate the theft.
Suleiman said he assembled a team of seven investigators in an effort to trace the vehicles.
“We worked flat-out to find these vehicles. They were found in Mthatha, Durban and Butterworth.
“They were hidden but our investigation led us to them and four suspects have been arrested,” he said, adding that they had worked closely with the East London police’s vehicle theft unit.
“This was made possible as we worked with the SAPS East London team.”
Suleiman would not reveal how they tracked the vehicles, but said intelligence gathering had helped.
“We had a strong team and we couldn’t sleep once we started on this case. Unfortunately we can’t reveal much information as the investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
Suleiman confirmed that the three vehicles were all coupé models, which are not manufactured at the East London Mercedes-Benz plant.
“All the three vehicles were coupés, with one E-Class and two C-Class models.”
He said there were no signs of damage to the vehicles. “They are safe with us now.”
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said a syndicate was suspected of being behind the theft.
“We can confirm that all three vehicles have been recovered and currently four suspects have been arrested.
“More arrests are imminent as we suspect that this could be a work of a syndicate,” said Fatyela.
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