A national logistics company approached Justicia Investigations after it had come to light that they were suffering large stock losses. During consultation it was decided to infiltrate a covert operative in a covert operation to work at the warehouse to gather information. The operative soon identified the syndicate as well as the modus operandi, which involved warehouse personnel delivery crews and security personnel. The warehouse personnel would arrange extra stock to be loaded onto the vehicles which would then be sold on route, conducting legitimate deliveries. The warehouse personnel would alter the documents to cover the stock losses in return for their share of the profit. It is the duty of the security officer to scrutinize the stock being loaded however formed part of the syndicate and also took a share in the spoils. Once all roll players and the receivers of the stolen items were identified, investigators made use of vehicle tracking equipment where tracking reports were then linked to trip-sheets for evidential purposes. The investigation team set up surveillance on target locations and obtained video evidence of the illegal transaction. To protect the operative, it was decided to make use of polygraph testing to obtain confessions rather than presenting the evidence obtained. This would only be used as a backup plan. All the employees agreed to this process. One of the culprits absconded when management called the employees to a meeting. The polygraph tests confirmed that all the employees brought in for questioning were involved in organised theft from the warehouse. With polygraphist and investigator working hand in hand, fifteen confessions were obtained with every syndicate member confessing to their role in the crimes. This is yet another recent success covert operation story from the case files of Justicia Investigations. The adage “INTELLIGENCE IS POWER” was proven correct in this case. Guarding South Africa, a sister company to Justicia Investigations, has now taken over the security guarding function and currently has undercover operatives from Justicia in the guard force. This has provided the client with a double edged security solution.
Covert Operation Catches the Criminals
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Justicia Investigations, established in 1992, is a private investigations agency based in Durban and Johannesburg.