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| Men charged over stolen passports | Men charged over stolen passports |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Three men have been charged with handling stolen goods after 3,000 blank passports and visas were taken from a delivery van in Oldham. | Three men have been charged with handling stolen goods after 3,000 blank passports and visas were taken from a delivery van in Oldham. |
| The documents were being transported from the printers in Chadderton to RAF Northolt when they were stolen from outside a newsagent's in August 2008. | |
| The government later admitted a major security breach as the documents were not being transported in a secure van. | The government later admitted a major security breach as the documents were not being transported in a secure van. |
| The men are due to appear before Oldham Magistrates' Court later. | The men are due to appear before Oldham Magistrates' Court later. |
| Muneer Hussain, 29, of Dearnalay Way, Oldham, and Jawad Karim, 18, of Vicarage Street, Oldham, and Mohammed Shanawaz, 23, of Old Lane, Chadderton, were arrested on Sunday evening when the car they were travelling in was stopped on the M62. | Muneer Hussain, 29, of Dearnalay Way, Oldham, and Jawad Karim, 18, of Vicarage Street, Oldham, and Mohammed Shanawaz, 23, of Old Lane, Chadderton, were arrested on Sunday evening when the car they were travelling in was stopped on the M62. |
| They were charged by police on Wednesday night. | They were charged by police on Wednesday night. |
| Police have said a "substantial" quantity of the passports - thought to be worth £2.5m on the black market - have been recovered since the theft. | Police have said a "substantial" quantity of the passports - thought to be worth £2.5m on the black market - have been recovered since the theft. |
| At the time the Identity and Passport Service said that any missing passports would be unusable because they were fitted with chips, although some security experts disputed this. | At the time the Identity and Passport Service said that any missing passports would be unusable because they were fitted with chips, although some security experts disputed this. |