Phone - theft racket busted

A major pilfering scam involving the theft of sophisticated iPhone mobile phones has been busted at the cargo terminal in the Bandaranaike International Airport, police said. They said that six persons including three supervisors of a leading courier service company and three handlers hired by a manpower company were arrested in this connection.

 

According to police the hired hands from the manpower company are alleged to have cleverly opened the sealed packages containing the phones with the connivance of the supervisors of the courier service company. The suspects are later alleged to have sold the phones to unsuspecting licensed dealers in Kandy, Divulapitiya and Minuwangoda.

 

The police have already recovered 16 of the stolen phones. According to police the racket is suspected to have started from early January this year. The scam was uncovered by the Negombo Divisional Crimes Investigation Unit following a complaint. The value of the stolen IPhones was believed to be over Rs. three million.