Criminals are getting their hands on the software used by cellphone companies to unblock blacklisted handsets.
A police raid in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, last week, in conjunction with Vodacom, recovered 19 CDs containing the software, said senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht.
Also confiscated were 134 stolen cellular phones, a hard drive and a laptop, she said, adding that 12 people were arrested for possessing the stolen cellphones and the software.
Vodacom group executive of corporate communications Dot Field this morning declined to comment on the matter, so it not known where and how the software could have been stolen.
Martins-Engelbrecht added that 48 of the phones have already been linked to other crimes such as hijacking, armed robbery, housebreaking and theft.
"Businesses dealing in stolen cellphones create a market for stolen goods. Criminals rob, steal and murder people for their cellphones and sell them at these shops," she said.
"People buying stolen property contribute towards - and assist - criminals by maintaining and supporting the market for stolen goods."
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