World News: Recovering stolen vehicles and uncovering mobile chop shops

LoJack has recovered its 100,000th stolen vehicle in the US; while in South Africa, Tracker has recovered a stolen vehicle from what is possibly the world’s first mobile chop shop.

LoJack Corp recovered the milestone 100,000th stolen vehicle in Philadelphia, with the help of LoJack's Police Tracking Computers that are installed in police aviation units and squad cars.

According to LoJack chairman & CEO Richard Riley, the integration of the LoJack system with more than 1,800 law enforcement agencies in the US has proven time and time again to be a solution that works.

On another continent, Tracker has puts the brakes on what is believed to be the world's first mobile chop shop.

While the tracking computers indicated that the recovery teams were very close to the stolen vehicle they were tracking, the target could not be visually identified. The teams were, however, following a large truck, and eventually the penny dropped.

The recovery teams pulled over the truck and found two men allegedly stripping the stolen car inside the cargo hold. According to Tracker spokesperson Gareth Crocker, both men as well as the driver of the truck have been arrested.

Tracker believes that this may be the world's first mobile chop shop.

“While an investigation will have to be conducted, it's possible that the men believed it would be more difficult to track a stolen vehicle if it was mobile and hidden inside the metal cargo hold of a truck,” said Crocker. “We would like to think that this kind of desperate modus operandi is a reflection of the impact the vehicle tracking industry is having on vehicle crime in South Africa.”

In ten years, Tracker has recovered approximately 32,000 stolen and hijacked vehicles and arrested almost 6,500 vehicle criminals. The company has also shut down some 280 crime syndicates and chop shops.