A telescopic crane worth 120,000 euro was stolen from a construction site in Vantaa, just outside Helsinki. The thieves managed to disable the tracking device by cutting the GPS antenna. However, this did not stop GSGroup's search team from locating the crane.
- It was a challenging operation, but we managed to find the crane despite attempts to disable the tracking, says Tiia Kaukolampi, Head of Sales in GSGroup Finland.
One early morning, GSGroup received a call from Finland. On the other end, a distraught customer reported that a telescopic crane had been stolen overnight. The search team checked the crane and it was not at the construction site but on the highway loaded onto a machinery trailer.
- We got a few positions and could see a pattern which indicated that the crane was about to leave Finland. And rightly so, not long after the device reported that the crane was aboard a ferry bound for Estonia. We then made a call to the Estonian police and informed them about the situation, Kaukolampi says.
A while after we got confirmation that the crane had reached the port in Estonia. The device was set to tracking mode which gives us the whereabouts of the tracking device more frequently.
Managed to cut the GPS
- The search team see that the crane, still loaded onto the machinery trailer, has left the ferry terminal and now travel at a much quicker speed.
Suddenly, the crane stops.
The thieves is veering off the highway and into an industrial area. Then, out of nowhere, the signals are cut, and the device disappears from the screens at the alarm center at GSGroup.
- It turns out the thieves feared they were being tracked and stopped to search for devices mounted on the crane. When they found it, they cut the GPS antenna. When someone cuts the GPS, it does not exactly make our job easier, but we are not incapacitated either, as the thieves had thought, Kaukolampi says.
GSGroup has previously written several articles on how the use of three different radio technologies gives them an edge in the fight against crime. Now, it was precisely these technologies, combined with internal expertise, that were put into action.
- It is a subdued and tense atmosphere whenever a search operation is on-going. Everyone knows what is at stake, and everyone is working towards the same goal: recovering a stolen object. This time: a telescopic crane worth over 100 000 euro.
Collaboration between GSGroup and the Estonian police proves vital.
We managed to get some data from our tracking unit, despite the fact that the GPS-antenna has been cut. We provide the Estonian police with this information, and they manage to find and seize the crane before returning it to its rightful owner.
- We are pleased that our technology once again played a role in recovering stolen items and returning them to their rightful owners. We would like to thank the Estonian police for their efficient collaboration. Cross-border cooperation is key to combating this form of crime, says Kaukolampi.
