Two arrested over stolen laptops

Two men were arrested and several stolen laptops seized in a weekend police operation, national spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said.

“In an intelligence-driven operation this weekend, dubbed Project Blackberry, two men were arrested in connection with the theft of laptops. In the first breakthrough, a 25-year-old man was arrested in Lyttelton after he was found in possession of four suspected stolen laptops,” Makgale said.

The laptops were reported stolen in Brooklyn and Sandton in July and August respectively. He said the second arrest came after clues led an SA Service Intelligence team to Sasolburg where they arrested a 31-year-old man.

“The second suspect was found in possession of 25 laptops. At least one of these laptops has been reported stolen in Benoni in June and two were reported stolen in Lydenburg earlier in August. Further investigations will be conducted to determine the origin of the remaining notebooks,” said Makgale.

Last Monday, the Interpol and the Hawks offices, which use the same building in Pretoria central, were broken into and laptops were stolen. Makgale said this was the third burglary in recent weeks where laptops were taken from the premises.

“Entry was gained into these offices after external windows were forced open and laptops were stolen. While we believe that the same people were involved in these incidents, we have ruled out the involvement of a syndicate,” he said.

Makgale said the theft of laptops was a growing concern.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that these items are being stolen purely for self-enrichment and not for the purpose of seeking or extracting sensitive information from IT equipment.”

The arrested men were expected to appear on charges of suspected stolen property in the Lyttelton and Sasolburg magistrate’s courts.

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