Operatives of Ondo Police Command have recovered a total of seven suspected stolen vehicles from a syndicate of notorious car thieves who specialised in visiting homes of their victims to rob them of their vehicles.
Apart from this, the car thieves also specialised in forging documents for the stolen vehicles before selling to unsuspecting buyers across the country.
The arrest and discovery of the gang of car thieves followed a report of theft of a Toyota Corolla car which was forcefully stolen from the owner in his Akure residence but was traced to Sagamu in Ogun state, where six others vehicles were recovered.
Speaking on the arrest of two members of the syndicate, the State Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Oladipo disclosed that the gang of robbers entered people’s homes and collected their vehicles at gun-point before selling it off to unsuspecting buyers.
Oladipo explained that several complaints had been lodged by residents of Akure and Ore about the activities of the gang until the last operation carried out by the car thieves.
He said detectives from the command notrd the mode of operation of the gang, saying the suspects do not operate on the highway, but rather would enter people’s compounds fully armed and robbed them to submit their vehicles.
According to him, his men swung into action with the recent complaint lodged by owner of a Toyota Corolla, and tracked the car to somewhere in Sagamu in Ogun State, where it was discovered.
He said after discovering the vehicles, the officers decided to go through the record of series of complaints and began to carry out investigation and additional six vehicles were recovered.
He listed the vehicles to include, a Toyota Venza, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Sienna, Lexus LX330 and Lexus ES 330 which were retrieved from unsuspected buyers and from vehicles stand of the receivers.
He said “On July 11, 2024, a petition was received at the Command detailing a daring armed robbery. A Toyota Corolla, a Tecno POP 5 phone and ₦1.5 million in cash were stolen at gunpoint.
“Our Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, using advanced intelligence, traced the perpetrators of the crime to Ogun State, where some suspects were arrested.
“Among these suspects was Akinsanya Sarafa Adeniyi, a notorious receiver of stolen vehicles, known in certain circles as “Oba Idan.
“Also arrested were a female accomplice who produced fake vehicular documents and others who aided the principal suspect in evading arrest. Despite our success, the mastermind remains at large, and our search for him continues.”
One of the suspected car thieves, Paul Niwa, who hailed from Kogi state, disclosed that he met the leader of the gang, who is currently at large, at Oba Correctional Centre, Ogun State and thereafter began to work together.
Niwa explained that he usually receive the stolen vehicles from the group and sell it off to unsuspecting buyers at current market price.
The Police boss, however said detectives from the state police Command are still on the trail of the leaders of the syndicate and other members of the group who are still at large.
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