It is now apparent that a criminal syndicate of well-dressed men with master keys to open all type of vehicles has now penetrated the city stealing vehicles and taking them to hide–out garages in city where they are dismantled and parts sold either locally or in neighboring countries.

While others drive the stolen vehicles at night through the country’s porous borders to neighbouring Guinea and Liberia without any security checks since those borders have been deserted by security personnel.

Four vehicle thefts have been reported in just one month in various parts of the city.

This has not only become a national concern, since vehicle owners, including government officials, are now apprehensive over the safety of their vehicles but it is also a wakeup call for the police to mount heavy security search to dig out hide-out garages in the country.

A traffic police attached to the Central Police division confirmed to this medium that on Monday July 2019, along Wilberforce Street in the Central Business District, the owner of a Toyota jeep parked opposite GT Bank was lucky not to have his vehicle stolen.

He said a well-dressed coated man in his early 30s flanked by a young man attempted to open the vehicle. When they were questioned by a security officer on the opposite side of the street, they replied that they are relatives to the owner of the Jeep and that they are going to call him in the office.

No sooner they moved towards the office on the pretext that they were going to call the owner of the jeep who they claimed to be their relative, they sneaked away.

Police say they have been tipped off that most of the stolen vehicles are dismantled and parts taken to neighboring countries by road or local boat (pampa).

Hence, they appealed to all and sundry not to hesitate to query anyone found transporting huge vehicle parts to neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, citizens have attributed the rampant vehicle theft to the proliferation of Guinean fitters into the country, while others blamed it on the car dealers who they say give out only one key to a buyer instead of 2 keys as it is supposed to be.