THREE residents’ cars were stolen last week as they were surfing on uMhlanga beach. Two of the surfers, who parked on Lagoon Drive, had allegedly left their car keys in their friend’s car. The cars – a VW Polo, a Jeep and Ford Ranger – were taken by the brazen thieves in broad daylight. The thefts occurred between 8.20am and 9.40am.

According to Lt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North SAPS, this was not the first time surfers have fallen victim to theft in the area.

“We’ve had cases in eMdloti under similar circumstances, where surfers have their valuables stolen because some are known to leave their keys under the wheel or bumper, or in the wheel arch. What happened in this case was two of the men left their keys in their friend’s car and went surfing. When they got back, they realised all three of the cars had been stolen,” he said.

Last week Deokaran told Northglen News he believed a syndicate was operating in the Durban North and uMhlanga areas. More than 16 cases of vehicle thefts have been reported in the past two weeks.  He added some of the cars fitted with tracking devices have also been recovered.

“What we find is the car thieves steal the car and then park it off, leaving it for an hour or two to see if the car is fitted with a tracker. The thefts have been across the north with no specific pattern to them. The types of cars taken have also been across the board.

“We have put strategies into place and we are conducting a number of stop-and-searches on the freeways to check vehicle registrations and drivers’ licences. We also have a number of other operations (which I’m not allowed to speak of), targeting the syndicate. We are confident we will arrest the thieves, but I urge residents to be on the lookout for suspicious individuals and vehicles,” he said.