A-Plant recovers stolen skid steer from Middle East using A-Trak

A-Plant has traced one of its JCB skid steer loaders stolen in the UK to Sharjah in the Middle East using its A-Trak system and positively identified it using Cesar.

Enigma, which hosts A-Plant's A-Trak system, followed the satellite reports from the machine's tracking device to Southampton docks nine days after it was stolen and discovered it was bound for Gibraltar and then went on to Oman. When the machine was unloaded, Enigma pinpointed its final location in the UAE state of Sharjah.

In an undercover visit, a joint venture partner in Dubai paid a deposit to ensure the machine wasn't moved, while Interpol completed the necessary paperwork for its recovery. Enigma chief executive Ian Keam-George travelled to Dubai with Data Tag scanning equipment and identified the machine by the hidden transponders as the UPN plate had been removed.

The Sharjah police have arrested two suspects and seized the skid steer, along with a generator stolen from another plant hire firm in Manchester.