The majority of hijackings involve syndicates as opposed to being random acts of opportunistic crime. This means that vehicle hijacking is an extremely difficult dragon to slay as the hijackers themselves are merely the henchmen of the syndicates: “They are well armed and easily replaceable,” remarks Ferdi Gobey, executive manager of Capital Air. 

The hijacking syndicates, however, are sophisticated and extremely well organised. They have the equipment, the knowledge and the contacts to run a successful ‘business’ from a disposable cell phone and an unregistered warehouse. And it’s no wonder they are organised as there are big bucks involved here. 

When a car is stolen, a top-of-the-range model can fetch R1-million. In the case of a rig, when you combine the truck tractor, trailer and load, you’re looking at topping the R4-million mark. That’s mega bucks in anyone’s language. 

“These syndicates seem to have a chain of command,” notes Gobey, adding that the head of the syndicate is probably sitting on the phone in a luxurious suburb just like any other successful businessman. The only difference is that the syndicate head’s phone calls are made to arrange the hijacking of a specific vehicle or a specific load – or to sell a vehicle and load that has already been stolen. 

A large number of cases involve a legitimate truck driver being influenced to transport a load through a legitimate transporter to a legitimate customer even though, unbeknown to all parties except one, the load is stolen. That one party is the middle man who sits between the hijackers and the buyer. One might feel that with the wide-spread penetration of tracking systems into fleets over the past years, hijacking would have diminished. Not so! While tracking companies continue to improve their systems in a number of ways in order to make hijackings more difficult, tracking systems are still vulnerable and are often removed from vehicles when stolen. 

According to Gobey, the problem remains that a number of these criminals are extremely adept at removing the systems. “These hijackers are professionals and can take an everyday tool like a screwdriver and quickly strip a vehicle, even while they’re driving, in search of the tracking device.” 

The good news is that system developers work tirelessly and innovatively in staying ahead of the syndicates in their on-going effort to thwart the hijackers. It’s really a cat and mouse game between the system R&D boffins and the criminals. 

Although the recovery success rate claims of various tracking companies has been a subject of hot debate in the past, Gobey assures us that Capital Air can genuinely boast a high recovery success rate – even when the system has been removed from the vehicle. 

This is quite phenomenal given how hard it must be to track down a vehicle without any GPS signal being sent out. Gobey says this is done through a network of informants as well as investigative work done by knowing what vehicle was stolen, what the load was and who might be interested in purchasing the stolen vehicle. 

An example of this occurred mere days before I visited the company when a fuel tanker belonging to a client was hijacked. The tracking system had been removed by the hijackers but by using a network of informants, lookout teams and with the help of a private investigator who had contacts inside the syndicate, it was established that the vehicle would be at Beit Bridge at 11 pm – and the Capital Air team was there to recover the vehicle without incident. 

“We won’t give up on a truck until we have it back,” states Gobey, adding that if a tracking device is removed, this is far from the end of the process. “The potential for recovery is always present. It just takes someone to put in the hours and the effort and it can be found and retrieved for a customer,” he says. 

In harm’s way every day 

The recovery of a vehicle is not, however, as simple as merely pin-pointing the vehicle and sending someone in to fetch it back for the owner. In fact, this is hardly ever the case. The recovery teams at Capital Air place themselves in harm’s way every day while protecting your assets. 

Jean Brand, national recovery manager, says when a perpetrator is encountered with the stolen vehicle, one of two things is bound to happen: either he will run from you or he will shoot at you. Bulletproof vests and pistols are thus the standard attire of the recovery team as they either chase a hijacker down or get into a true modern-age gunfight with them. 

There is also a vast collaborative effort from the men at Capital Air with the control room constantly updating its men on the ground with details of the movement of the hijackers. The police service, some members of which are regular helpers of the recovery teams, are also kept in the communication loop during an active recovery. Constant communication is what ensures success. 

What makes things more difficult though is that a large number of hijacked vehicles go over the borders of South Africa. Gobey notes that vehicles can end up anywhere and that some have even been found in Italy and other European countries. This, however, is usually a more exclusive order – “something like an Aston Martin,” he says. 

Into Africa

In the case of trucks, most will head into Africa often using game reserves as easy routes into other countries. Gobey tells the story where the hijackers entered a game reserve, pulled a few trees down and loaded them onto the back of the truck to give the impression they were doing maintenance. They then drove straight into Mozambique. 

Issues of jurisdiction become pertinent when a stolen vehicle enters another country as every country has its own laws and regulations. One particular incident saw a recovery team negotiate with the military in the DRC in order to get the vehicle back into South Africa. 

The cross-border situation has historically been less serious in Zimbabwe given the state of the country’s financial affairs. All goods have battled to obtain and maintain value in Zimbabwe – and this applies to stolen goods as well. However, now that the US Dollar is accepted as legal tender in Zimbabwe, the level of border crossings into Zimbabwe is expected to become serious once again. 

One of the major contributing factors to the hijacking problem in South Africa, believe it or not, is overloading. Many transporters will overload their trucks and will instruct their drivers to take back routes to avoid tolls and weighbridges. It is on these back roads that a large percentage of hijackings take place. Although hijacking of trucks takes place throughout the year, there are times of the year when it does predictably spike, December being one of these periods. This year, however, Gobey noted an unusual spike in January as well. The December spike naturally has a lot to do with the criminals trying to fund their holidays but the January spike goes to show that no-one, especially the vehicle recovery companies, can ever let their guard down. 

“The  hijacking business has changed and has grown into a massive one,” remarks Gobey. “It’s grown because they now use the vehicle as is, take it over the border, strip it for parts or just sell the load, depending on what the situation calls for.” 

Hijacking has been a serious problem in South Africa for many years but the bad news is that it is becoming even more so given that over the years, the syndicates have become increasingly organised and more dangerous. 

The good news is that people like Ferdi Gobey, Jean Brand and their colleagues at Capital Air provide a light at the end of the tunnel. Their tireless work and relentless action in the face of constant danger provide a hope that eventually, the ‘business’ of hijacking won’t be a business at all. 

FleetWatch salutes you one and all.