Harassment in health settings, principal 2-month work ban, Hawkes Bay tourism low, Aussie's new NZ citizenship pathway & Barry Humprhries dies aged 89 in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
When Photogear employees learned their Albany store had been targeted with a break-in, it left them feeling disheartened.
But when they discovered the only products stolen were six DJI drones - amounting to $20,000 in worth - they were confused by what the thief had to gain.
Branch manager Salvadore Berrabi said the theft on Saturday night was carried out by a lone assailant who had a clear understanding of the shop’s layout.
“[The first person at the scene] found smashed glass from one of our cabinets where we store the DJI products,” he told the Herald.
“The CCTV showed it was pretty quick, we think he must have come earlier or the day before and had a look at the store to know where things were.”
The six stolen drones will be made redundant thanks to a security feature built into the products. Photo / File
It’s not the first time drones have been stolen from Photogear stores in the past.
Recently another branch in Mt Eden had an incident where a customer pretended to buy one drone product before walking away with three, according to Berrabi.
But as it turns out, drones can be remotely disabled by DJI themselves.
Deon Holgate is the man driving justice for the businesses that have their drones stolen. His company Dicker Data is one of the primary distributors of DJI products to retailers across the country.
He’s been in touch with Photogear this morning to determine which drones were stolen, in order to disable them.
“I’ve got the serial numbers here and we’ve been instructed to turn them off,” said Holgate.
“So what I’ll do with the serial numbers is I’ll notify DJI and deactivate those numbers. So if the thief goes and sells those products wherever, if people try to register it, it just won’t work.”
The offender broke in through the back of the Photogear store. Photo / Google Maps
DJI and Dicker Data work collaboratively to ensure that any drones illegally obtained cannot be activated when the machines are registered.
The process can take as fast as 24 hours.
Holgate compared the pointlessness in theft to Apple products, which he said are universally known to be bad to steal given their GPS tracking software.
But the notion that nicking a drone is a waste of time may be a concept thieves are yet to clue up to.
“I guess I’m trying to come from the education perspective and let the underworld know..there’s no stealing that bro.”
Drone theft has become a recent phenomenon, according to Holgate, who said DJI products are starting to become hot property for re-selling.
“They’re seen as high-average-selling price products and they have a quick turnaround,” he said.
“Photo Warehouse has had some stolen, I know JB Hi-Fi has had some taken. So yes, it’s more prevalent for that underworld market as high-end products they can sell quickly.”
Photogear is back open today, further security measures will be put in place.
“We’re installing more security cameras in the front and the back of the store, padlocks on the doors outside - so we’re looking to improve there,” said Berrabi.
“It’s frustrating. I was actually talking with an accountant last week about [business crime] getting worse around Auckland, we have to be concerned.”
