Industry News

Sure-Track recover stolen Plant from overseas

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Written by Roma Publications

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Did you know that ÂŁI Million of plant is stolen each week in the UK? (Source: The Home Office)

Sure-Track is one of the UKs leading Mobile tracking and Asset recovery companies. No matter what your asset, powered or non – powered, business or leisure, pride and joy or livelihood they have a product to protect and manage it. Sure-Track operates at a 91% recovery rate and specialise in the theft of UK plant. We recently spoke with Sure-Track about their most memorable find which sent them oversees to Spain. Read on for the full story.

Day 1 – At roughly 9:00 a.m. on the 12/2/2013 the Sure-Track Bureau desk received a call from a customer in East London reporting a stolen Takeuchi (Asset value ÂŁ20.000). Fitted in the Takeuchi was a Sure-Track MT3 Asset recovery device. The Sure-Track bureau desk took the first protocol step in the recovery procedure and switched the unit into alarm and prepared to monitor the asset. Tom, one of the longest members of the Sure-Track national finder network was notified by Sure-Track that he would be the Finder on standby that day. With the unit kept in movement mode Tom began the search utilising a Sure Track RF wand which detects the radio beacons released from the unit, however after a couple of hours Tom was unable to detect any signal from the unit. Hours passed without any response from the unit. The search was suspended to rest after a long day.

Day 2- A second Sure-Track Finder was brought on board to assist with the Find, despite really poor coverage and irregular response from the unit both finders preceded with day 2 of the search. It was late in the afternoon when suddenly the bureau desk received positions produced by the unit many miles apart in an impossibly short space of time. It transpired that the SMS messages were received by the system more than five hours late. After plotting the positions based on historic data it appeared the asset had been transported to Newhaven, a dock on the south coast. At this stage it was pretty clear to the entire team that the Takeuchi was stolen to order and in the process of being exported. The bureau desk then received an updated movement alarm and could then confirm that the unit was reporting to a cell mast in Malaga, Spain. With a fear of the battery dying Sure-Track decided to shorten the wake up of the unit to every three hours, this allowed the team an updated location of the unit every three hours. The discussion was had and the owner of the asset and Sure-Track agreed on sending a Finder to Spain to retrieve the asset.

Day 3 – Tom the Sure-Track Finder began his search soon after arriving in Malaga the following day. Whilst utilising a Sure-Track RF wand and taking direction from the bureau desk back in the UK Tom eventually confirmed the location of the asset, a small grove adjacent to a villa in La Moraga. Celebrations where in order and Tom was ready to retire that day with a pint of San Miguel, however, surrounding the grove was a gang of Rottweiler’s. After a couple hours of sharing out a bag of Doritos with the Rottweiler’s Tom managed to befriend the hungry canines and gain access to the Takeuchi on the other side. After assisting with Spanish authorities and proving the ownership of the asset it was then recovered to a safe location. Tom set off for Malaga airport and departed for the UK. Job done.

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The Sure-Track MT3.

The Sure-Track MT3 is a fully monitored battery operated Asset recovery device that is simple to install and easy to use. It has been designed specifically to get your asset returned to you as quickly as possible following theft.

Features and Benefits of the MT3:

  • 24/7 Monitoring
  • Easy to install
  • 3 year battery life
  • Tamper and movement alarm
  • Insurance approved means cheaper premiums
  • Secure recover

Sure-Track also provides Fleet Management and Theft deterrent Systems. Sure-Track Fleet management systems have been designed to help increase efficiency and improve productivity by monitoring both the asset and the employee. They can also help monitor driver behaviour, assist with location management, report and highlight reckless use of vehicles and machines and provide solutions to Health and Safety requirements such as maintenance and driving times.

The Sure-Track Theft deterrent system is a sophisticated Identification marking system which has been designed to deter would be thieves from stealing your asset and dismantling it to sell on for parts. Sure-Track achieves this by marking it with a unique identifier in over 40 different locations. It is then registered on the national database that can be accessed by the owner, police and insurance companies.

Sure-Track

Visit www.sure-track.co.uk or call 01926 863630 and learn about how Sure-Track can help protect manage and recover your company assets.

 

About the author

Roma Publications