Transport company in Spain nicks rival’s lorry tractor units in multi-million theft

POLICE in Spain made seven arrests after discovering a transport company had got its hands on 50 of a rival firm’s tractor units with a combined value of some €5 million.

Investigators intercepted the seven driving stolen tractor units with Spanish plates covering the original Bulgarian ones en route from Murcia to Madrid to sell them.

The first phase of the operation led to the localisation of 43 more tractor units which had been acquired illegally, 39 in Almeria and four in Madrid.

Police launched the investigation after the administrator of the transport company which was the victim of the thefts reported that another company working in the same business had taken advantage of the two enterprises sharing the same headquarters and parking area to illegally get its hands on its vehicles.

According to the administrator, the other company closed off the car-park and changed the locks and alarms.

It turned out the offending firm had been contacting other companies in the sector and offering them tractor units which weren’t actually theirs and asking for a €3,000 deposit.

The seven detainees face charges of falsifying documents, fraud and misappropriation.