Stolen UK passports worth £2.5m
Blank British passports stolen from a security van would be worth £2.5m on the black market, police said today.
The Foreign Office admitted a serious breach of security when a van carrying the new passports destined for British embassies overseas was hijacked a short distance from the factory that made them.
A spokeswoman said 24 parcels containing passports and vignettes – the blank stickers for visa stamps – had been stolen from a van en route from the factory in Oldham to RAF Northolt near London.
Security arrangements for the movement of passports are normally overseen by the Home Office through a sub-contracted security firm.
However, because these passports were going to embassies, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was responsible for delivery.
And they all did the perfect, punctual, piss-poor job we’ve come to know and revere!
