NORFOLK, Va. — On Oct. 15, Virginia State Police (VSP) received six pieces of heavy equipment that were initially stolen from Massachusetts, exported through Newark, New Jersey, recovered in Spain and redelivered to Norfolk, thanks to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Hampton Roads.
The equipment -- including a 2023 Bobcat skid steer, a Kubota backhoe, two 2018 Bomag drum compactors, two 2019 Genie lifts and 75 heavy equipment batteries -- was stolen from a rental facility in Woburn, Mass, and in total was valued at over $200,000.
CBP officers were researching export container manifests on ships leaving Norfolk on July 5 for potentially stolen vehicles when they discovered a ship carrying what was claimed to be machinery road rollers that had already left Norfolk, and had just left Newark, headed to Spain before going to the final destination of Guinea.
The Norfolk CBP officers requested the ship be inspected at its next stop in Algeciras, Spain.
On July 29, CBP officers in Algeciras discovered the un-manifested heavy equipment and batteries in addition to the machinery road rollers, and they contacted the rental company in Massachusetts. The rental company then filed a theft report in Massachusetts, and CBP ordered the container to be redelivered to Norfolk.
On Oct. 15, CBP officers turned the heavy equipment and batteries over to VSP to eventually be returned to the Massachusetts rental company.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.