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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Man held over theft of passports | Man held over theft of passports |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A man is being questioned in connection with the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas worth about £2.5m from a security van in Oldham. | A man is being questioned in connection with the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas worth about £2.5m from a security van in Oldham. |
| It follows an alleged attack on a security van after it stopped at a newsagents shop on 28 July. | It follows an alleged attack on a security van after it stopped at a newsagents shop on 28 July. |
| The man arrested is understood to be the delivery man who accompanied the driver on his journey. | The man arrested is understood to be the delivery man who accompanied the driver on his journey. |
| The Foreign Office has said there was a serious breach of security over the loss of the documents. | The Foreign Office has said there was a serious breach of security over the loss of the documents. |
| A statement from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: "A 48-year-old man from Oldham was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery and is currently in police custody." | |
| Earlier this week officers described how the delivery man was attacked by an unknown offender who drove the vehicle a short distance before escaping. | |
| Passports 'unusable' | |
| Police said the white Citroen van was carrying 24 brown cardboard boxes, although not all of the boxes in the van were taken. | |
| The stolen passports were destined for embassies abroad and were being taken from 3M Security Printing & Systems in Chadderton to RAF Northolt. | |
| The delivery, in the non-armoured van, was being carried out by a private company on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). | |
| Police, who estimated the black market value of the passports at £2.5m, said they were "very secure" because they contained a microchip which could be encrypted. | |
| And the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) insisted the embedded chip security features rendered the passports "unusable". | |
| Greater Manchester Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses to the robbery, which happened just before 0640 BST on Monday. |