In an effort to avoid being caught through the use of technology, car thieves are now leaving sweepers at the homes of their victims to ensure that no tracking devices are activated.
According to police, once the thieves reach their destination they contact the sweeper by telephone to alert him or her that it is safe to leave. It was the method used on a South Oropouche family in what police described as the work of an organised team of car thieves.
Most recently, it was used in the burglary of the home of a Gasparillo contractor and the theft of his three BMWs, a Jaguar S6 and a Kia Sorento on Wednesday morning.
But through collaborative operation by the Special Branch, Central Division Task Force and Couva CID, coordinated by Snr Supt Inraj Balram and ASP Richard Smith, four of the vehicles were recovered at a house in Roystonia, Couva, by 9 pm yesterday. Investigators are still searching for the Kia Sorento.
Two of the BMWs were dusted and scoured for fingerprints and DNA and the samples were sent for forensic analysis. Because the thieves took all the keys, the owner is trying to get the replacements for the other BMW and the Jaguar S6 recoded so that forensic experts could open the vehicles to search for clues.
No suspects were held as no one was at the house when police arrived. Investigators learned that the house was a rental and according to the owner, the last tenants left two weeks ago.
According to reports, the contractor, a former police officer who now owns a hardware, was asleep with his wife and son at their Gasparillo home at the time of the incident. Around 4.30 am, five masked thieves cut open a window on the house and entered their bedrooms. Armed with guns, the thieves ordered the family to lie on the floor and bounded their hands and feet together. Pointing a gun at their heads, the thieves threatened to execute the family but instead went about ransacking the house, stealing $20,000 and US$7000. When they were finished, they took the keys to the family’s vehicles and left. The family said their hardware had been robbed twice recently but this was the first time they were attacked at their home.
The robbery was the third major attack on business owners in South Trinidad within recent weeks. It follows the kidnapping for ransom of Palmiste mother Natalie Pollonais, the wife of Inland and Offshore Contractors Ltd (IOCL) director Jason Pollonais and the burglary at the home of JD’s Exclusive owner Aaron Hosein.