$1.13M in stolen games seized, re-stolen in UK

  • By thorsen-ink, GameSpot
  • Posted Sep 30, 2008 6:28 pm PT

In 1963, the UK was the site of the Great Train Robbery, when £2.6 million was stolen by infamous criminal Ronnie Biggs. (Two years ago, a record £53.1 million was stolen in the Securitas Depot Robbery, the biggest heist in British history.) This week, a crime that might be called the Great Game...

In 1963, the UK was the site of the Great Train Robbery, when £2.6 million was stolen by infamous criminal Ronnie Biggs. (Two years ago, a record £53.1 million was stolen in the Securitas Depot Robbery, the biggest heist in British history.) This week, a crime that might be called the Great Game Robbery took place when police seized and impounded a truck carrying a fortune in stolen PlayStation 3 games.

According to The Sun, the driver of a truck carrying 16,000 units of Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway stopped by the roadside in the East Midlands borough of Northampton. As the driver rested, thieves emptied the truck of all copies of the Ubisoft WWII shooter, which the tabloid estimated as being worth £600,000 ($1.07 million) wholesale. Most UK retailers are selling the game for £39.99 (about $71), putting the load's retail worth at £639,000 ($1.13 million).

The seven pallets' worth of games were transferred to another truck, which was driven to the nearby city of Leeds. There, according to The Sun, police pulled over the vehicle after noticing it had stolen license plates and impounded the truck, storing it at the department's secure garage.

Then, what should've been a straightforward case took an unexpected turn. Police discovered in the morning that locks on the garage's shuttered windows had been cut away. The stolen software-laden truck had vanished and was recovered several days later in a shopping mall parking lot completely emptied of its illicit gaming goods.

"We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, including eBay transactions where a number of the games have been potentially identified as being advertised for sale," a Leeds police department spokesman told The Sun. Arrests have already been reportedly made in the case, though no further specifics were given.

262 Comments

  • h2k47

    Posted Nov 4, 2008 4:06 pm PT

    anyone considered UBI stealing their own games lol..

  • weissengel86

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 10:40 am PT

    Wow those cops either are incompetent or they underestimated how much the thieves wanted the games.

  • Kastigador

    Posted Oct 20, 2008 11:23 am PT

    Anyone else scratching their as to how the people that were driving the truck initially weren't detained or at least positively ID'd? Perhaps they were but someone else was apparently also following the truck around and stole it again?

  • KingOfTheNubeis

    Posted Oct 17, 2008 10:46 am PT

    No wonder it was only a fiver down the pub

  • greg_g33

    Posted Oct 16, 2008 10:10 am PT

    ownt

  • s1deshowb0b

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 6:54 am PT

    would not have happened if the game had COOP/SKIRMISH MODE

    YOU DAMN B00NS @ DEVELOPERS

  • frog154

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 12:39 am PT

    The games not THAT good, jeez

  • hertz9753

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 9:48 pm PT

    I don't see anything funny about this. People stealing and people
    losing jobs. not funny.

  • 2122

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 4:34 pm PT

    if only they were 360 games then i could laugh at all the xbox live kids who have no friends and proclaim halo is great HAHA

  • Smoke287

    Posted Oct 7, 2008 10:53 pm PT

    now thats what i call... GETTIN OWNED SUCKA!

  • WardCleaver02

    Posted Oct 7, 2008 2:18 pm PT

    Que keystone cops!

  • pspeck_1

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 6:51 pm PT

    At least they weren't 360 games. Then I'd get annoyed at British policing. "What its just children's games" said Constable Parkings. Yah....wtver man wtever....

  • pspeck_1

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 6:51 pm PT

    At least they weren't 360 games. Then I'd get annoyed at British policing. "What its just children's games" said Constable Parkings. Yah....wtver man wtever....

  • CHROMEFLAMIN

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 4:54 pm PT

    I like how the driver in the first place was asleep while they removed not one, not two, but seven pallets of games! So that tells me three things, either he was in on it or deaf. Or, there's more to the story. Nobody steals 7 pallets out of a truck with someone in it or up front.

  • jcoe85

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 2:46 pm PT

    Well, that says alot about our police force doesn't it. Can't even babysit evidence now.

  • scotchex2

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 2:35 pm PT

    yeah, that's just odd.

  • okassar

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 2:32 pm PT

    LLLLLOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!

  • Arcadius

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 1:25 pm PT

    My god, this actually sounds like an X file, if only for the use of the word "vanished"

  • Czenkus

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 10:27 am PT

    Fight the power!

  • biggerbob2

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 9:19 am PT

    WOW robbing the police...
    That takes guts

  • grvr316

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 9:10 am PT

    Looks like Big Brother isn't doing his job very well.

  • bob_the_biro

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 7:43 am PT

    it was restolen from the police that is just funny

  • Biohazard080608

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 7:06 am PT

    Ha that is so funny. I thing they wanted to play some games

  • otanikun

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 5:24 am PT

    Them people want their games I suppose, funny how it was stolen and then restolen; I know it's a matter of not having them stolen to begin with but I'd just give it up and take it as a loss, this game is good from what I hear and the revenue will more than make up for it I'm sure.

  • gp3tron

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    wow...bizarre...

  • Jebbers

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 6:05 pm PT

    well i guess i hope they catch them, i am really enjoying this game and hope ubisoft/gearbox dont lose any deserved royalties, but man i can't stop frucking laughing, at the cops, and the determined crooks, they wanted that software, haha

  • gandalf_storm

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 4:43 pm PT

    lol

  • stolz1975

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:49 pm PT

    God save the queen!

  • STRIFE9288

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:38 pm PT

    no arrests have been made, the police are just saying that cause they're embarrassed that some people actually took the truck from right under their noses, haha

  • JaredTrotterboy

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:35 pm PT

    PumpkinBoogie
    Posted Oct 2, 2008 5:01 am GMT
    "Well now we all know which country to go to commit fail-proof robberies! LOL"

    Pumpkin at least they keep the child molesters off the street in UK. Besides, half of the worlds criminals are in America. Proven fact.

  • JaredTrotterboy

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    who steals games? crazy kids go rob a bank like us Americans. not like ur not gonna be back out on the street in a couple years anyways.......

    America's corrupt, and I can say that I'm American.

  • Wuflungdung

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:25 pm PT

    GANGSTA287 Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:15 pm GMT
    Seriously though... is this Reno 911? Did they leave the keys in the ignition?
    I don't think you realise how easy it is to pull this sort of stuff off. The real trick is selling the stock, that will be the hard part.

  • shawn7324

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:20 pm PT

    Thats crazy stuff right there.

  • Beastcake

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:11 pm PT

    Awesome. It's about time the gaming industry is showing its might!

  • quietguy

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 2:06 pm PT

    The WTF is that compound garage wasn't that really secured. And the REAL WTF is that the driver didn't notice his truck being pried open, which raises more question since anyone with an ear would hear boxes banging against the cargo hold; Else, he was completely knocked the *bleep* out!

  • malaga01

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    HAHA, holy crap, played like a b.

  • Delongman

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:25 pm PT

    Cops...always thinking that they're cool and imposing and never admitting it when they mess up... "We are pursuiing..." but never will you hear "World, we f**ked up badly..." Cops... let 'em go back to college

  • killa4lyfe

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:17 pm PT

    Sins-of-Mosin Posted Oct 2, 2008 3:51 pm GMT Once the robbers realize they have the PS3 version, they'll dump it in a river

    HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH-------NO
    lemme guess another 360 fanboy?

    (dun start console WARS!...again..)

  • dg3215

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 12:28 pm PT

    Nice to know that cops in europe are just as dumb as they are in the US not really a surprise but still good to know..

  • DecadesOfGaming

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 12:23 pm PT

    The police are muppets !

  • deptacon

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 12:08 pm PT

    Wow... Very determined to steal those video-games. Like they were stealing weapons or something. I don't see how they will be able to unload all of them though.

  • biggs92--

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 11:12 am PT

    why is everyone saying they think its an inside job because the driver stopped to rest. In britian its the law that a driver has to stop to rest every 4 hours and they are only allowed to drive so many hours in a weekend.

  • villihamson

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 10:43 am PT

    Funny how u call the police pathetic when those guys risked jail for hells highway, lol

  • bybeach

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 10:29 am PT

    It starts with that truck driver, i`m totally blown away. Nobody really seemed on to the situation, there. Some inside work, mabe?

  • supanoobles

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 9:50 am PT

    "WOW how pathetic can the British police be"

    So how far is your head up your arse now?

  • eagles_band

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 9:35 am PT

    WOW how pathetic can the British police be

  • Sins-of-Mosin

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 7:51 am PT

    Once the robbers realize they have the PS3 version, they'll dump it in a river.

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