Passports worth £2.5 million stolen in van hijack
Blank passports worth £2.5 million were stolen from an unlocked van when it was hijacked as the driver stopped at a newsagent.
The Foreign Office admitted it was a "serious breach of security" and said an investigation had begun into the robbery.
Around 3,000 passports and visa stickers - known as vignettes - were stolen on their way from Manchester to RAF Northolt in London from where they were to be sent to British embassies.
Officials claimed the chip technology incorporated in the passports would prevent them being used.
But fraud experts said they could be easily cloned and sold on the black market.
The raid was carried out less than a mile from the secure production site at 3M Security and Printing Systems Ltd in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, on Monday morning.
The driver pulled in to buy a newspaper and chocolate bar, leaving a deliveryman in the vehicle.
At least one robber then jumped into the white van and banged the man's head against the dashboard.
The vehicle was driven off with the deliveryman still on board before it was abandoned nearby.
When he felt it was safe the worker, who suffered minor head and shoulder injuries, got out of the van and found that 24 cardboard boxes had been taken.
He told police he did not know how many raiders were involved because he was forced to keep his head down. One witness said they saw two robbers jump in the van.
DCI Bill McGreavy of Greater Manchester Police said the passports would have been worth £2.5 million on the blackmarket.
He added that not all the documents had been taken and it was not clear whether they were the intended target.
Passports are usually transported by the Home Office, which has a policy of using secure armoured vehicles.
But because the papers were to be sent overseas they were the responsibility of the Foreign Office.
A spokesman at the FCO said they had launched an "urgent investigation" into security arrangements.
"We can confirm that a van was hijacked while en route from a production site in Manchester," she said. "It contained 24 parcels of [blank] passports and visa vignettes.
"Both the passports and the vignettes have security features to prevent them being used.
"This is the first incident of its kind and we are carrying out an immediate review of security.
"We have a contract with a security firm. Drivers are not allowed to make unauthorised stops."
The spokesman added that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), part of the Home Office, had taken "further measures" to prevent the documents being used.
The passports were the new electronic variety which contain a chip replicating the data printed on the document itself. They include personal details and a facial image of the holder.
However, analysts said they were easy to clone.
Adam Laurie, an independent consultant, said: "One of the problems with the passports is that there are no security features to stop their cloning. If you've got a genuine passport, dropping in a replacement chip is trivial."
He advised taking the official claims on their usability "with a massive pinch of salt".
Tom Craig, a former Scotland Yard fraud officer, told the BBC's Today programme that there were "desperate people all over the world" willing to pay for British passports.
He said the stolen passports would be worth about £1,700 each, whether the chip security was compromised or not.
"That is because they can be used by putting in biographical information of your own, not necessarily getting the chip information right, and then you can use them to open up bank accounts or actually get employment," Mr Craig said.
"These passports can be used anywhere in the world. If they come to the UK they are more likely to be picked up because the serial numbers will be recorded."
Dominic Grieve, shadow home secretary, said: "This illustrates how the government is wrong to rely exclusively on biometric technology to keep us safe - experts have shown it can be easily cloned.
"This is the latest in a long line of security disasters to hit the government and it shows how organised criminals will target identity documents.
"This would be all the more serious if everyone in the country has to carry an identity card."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said: "I find it extraordinary that the theft of so many passports was even possible.
"This Government has put the eradication of illegal immigration at the top of the political agenda.
"It is therefore completely unacceptable that such sensitive documents are transported in a way that puts them at risk of theft."作者: hongqing 时间: 2008-7-29 18:09
