Three Thousand Passports Stolen 护照被盗

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Robbers have hijacked three thousand blank passports from a van near Manchester, which are worth more than millions. Sky's Tom Parmenter reports.

A passport costs 72 pounds. Its value to criminals is much higher. Greater Manchester Police don't yet know if the robbers knew what they were after when they targeted the vehicle that had barely started its journey. The Citroen van carrying boxes of blank passports and blank stickers for visa stamps left the factory in Gorse Street, Chadderton at 6:30 yesterday morning and stopped half a mile away on Long Lane. The driver went into a newsagent’s to buy a paper. His coworker, who stayed in the van, was then confronted by two men and hijacked.

No personal details have been lost in this robbery. The passports themselves were blanks. But despite reassurances that the micro-chips in them were encrypted, there is still concern that they could be used in all sorts of illegal activity. "With the passports that have been stolen, It's an obvious sure consideration that they will be used by criminals. A passport can be a valuable commodity. When the actual value of the passports stolen themselves is over two million pounds, maybe toward two and a half million." The price on the streets is partly determined by its value outside the UK's borders.

Officials here say you couldn't get in or out of Britain on one of the stolen passports. But it could be used to fool banks and other institutions to create false identities. "It only takes one passport to be used unlawfully to cause major problems. And here you have three thousand and that's why it's extremely important that we know as much information about these blank passports as possible: Did they contain numbers? What are the numbers? Because the people who targeted this particular van will know what to do with them."

The serial numbers that were on the stolen passports are now being collated and will be sent out to ports and airports. But it may be months or years before the stolen passports surface again.

Tom Parmenter, Sky News, Oldham.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. after : prep

If you are after something, you are trying to get it.

eg: I did eventually find what I was after.

2. sticker : n-count

A sticker is a small piece of paper or plastic, with writing or a picture on one side, which you can stick onto a surface.

3. newsagent’s : n-count

A newsagent or a newsagent's is a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, and things such as cigarettes and sweets. (BRIT)

文本参考中文翻译

抢劫者在曼彻斯特附近劫持一辆货车，盗走3000本空白护照，价值百万以上。Sky新闻Tom Parmenter
报道。

一本护照价值72英镑，对罪犯来说，价值更高。曼彻斯特警方现在尚不明确罪犯劫持这辆尚未启程的货车目的何在。这辆雪铁龙汽车装载着成箱的空白护照和粘贴签证邮票用的贴纸标签，于昨天早上6：30离开位于Chadderton，Gorse街的工厂，停在半英里外的Long Lane。司机走进报刊亭买报纸，他的同事待在货车内，结果遭到两名男子劫持。

在这场抢劫中，任何个人信息都没有泄露，护照都是空白的。但是，尽管相关部门确保芯片经过加密，但是仍然担心这些空白护照被用于非法活动。“非常明显，这些护照被盗之后肯定会被罪犯利用的。护照是有价值的商品。被盗的护照实际价值超过200万英镑，可能接近250万英镑。”市场价值有一部分取决于英国过境之外的价值。

相关官员表示，用盗取的任何一本护照都不能出入英国过境。但是，这些护照可以被用来欺骗银行和其他机构来制造虚假身份。“仅仅非法使用一本护照就可以导致严重的问题。现在罪犯有3000本，这就是我们为什么尽量了解这些护照的详细信息的原因：上面有没有号码？如果有，号码是多少？瞄准这辆货车的人肯定知道怎么应用这些护照。”

现在正在校对被盗护照的序列号，这些号码会被发往港口和机场。但是可能几个月或者几年之后，这些被盗护照才会被犯罪分子使用。