Despite extensive security, 24 tonnes of copper disappeared without a trace from the port of Gothenburg in February. A professional driver has now been convicted of involvement in the millionaire, reports Göteborgs-Posten.
The stolen goods are estimated to be worth at least SEK 2.2 million. The copper was to be transported to France and stored on a trailer in a terminal in the port of Gothenburg, which is classified as a protected object, when it suddenly disappeared.
The foreign professional driver is convicted of reconnoitering before the theft and of having helped an unknown man into the area. The man who is believed to have stolen the trailer with the copper bluffed into the terminal with a fake ID card and a valid code, which according to the verdict he had received from the convicted driver.
– It is a serious incident, but also extremely unusual, says Stefan Strömberg, press officer for the Port of Gothenburg AB, to GP.
– As far as I know, nothing similar has happened in many years.
The professional driver denies involvement, but the district court considers that the evidence against him is sufficient and sentences him to two years and three months in prison, as well as to pay damages of more than SEK 2.4 million to the company that owns the copper and to the owner of the trailer. The driver is also deported and may not return to Sweden for ten years.
Where the trailer with the stolen copper has gone is still uncertain. Who the unknown man is who managed to enter the protected area is also a mystery.
Stefan Strömberg does not want to say what measures the Port of Gothenburg has taken after the theft.
– How the discussions went in this case and what adjustments may have been made, I can not go into, says Stefan Strömberg to GP.