3,000 blank UK passports stolen - isn't that just great

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www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4420850.ece

The Foreign Office admitted a serious breach of security today after 3,000 blank passports destined for British embassies worldwide were stolen from a van.

The 24 parcels, containing blank passports and vignettes - the blank stickers for visa stamps - were taken from the vehicle, which was en-route from a factory in Oldham to RAF Northolt near London.

Don't tell me the vehicle was left unlocked while the driver went for a cup of tea...

apparently hijacked near the site of the factor in Chadderton....

maybe it's been posted on eBay together with 2 CDs containing 25m child benefit records

Apparently they'll be no use for travelling because the printed inf has to match what's coded in the chip, but worth c £1800 each as fake ID?

WTF weren't they in a secure vehicle?

And how did anybody know they were in this one????

Having worked in the Passport Agency until the new owners (Siemens if your interested) sacked all the casual workers way back; I can honestly say that the amount of people who tried to get the genuine article with fake documents was enormous so I can imagine that this haul has just made someone very rich.