BY KEITH LACEY
The hijacking of a Sudbury transport truck driver and $500,000 in stolen nickel pellets last week have received national attention and inquiries by Canada's national spy agency, but it appears to be nothing more than two incompetent thieves looking to steal a vehicle.
"Until the investigation is completed, we don't know exactly what happened, but it appears two guys were trying to steal a truck and that's about it," said Sgt. Harry Carrigan, from the OPP detachment in Whitby, east of Toronto.
"We found the truck abandoned on the side of the highway with its contents intact...if they wanted the contents, they wouldn't have abandoned it so quickly. Until we determine otherwise, we are led to believe this was all about stealing a truck and nothing more."
Carrigan confirmed an investigator from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada's spy agency, did place a brief call inquiring about the incident.
"They simply asked if we had made any arrests and I said 'no' and that was it," he said.
The Sudbury truck driver involved managed to escape from the back of the truck within minutes and jumped out of the moving vehicle and quickly phoned police. He didn't suffer any serious injuries as a result of the bizarre incident, said Carrigan.
"We was roughed up a bit, but that was a result of trying to escape," he said.
Police don't have any significant leads in the case, even though they've received more than 300 calls from members of the public, said Carrigan.
Barbara Campion, spokesperson for CSIS, said the agency "wouldn't deny or confirm they are involved in an investigation" relating to the hijacking and abandoned nickel pellets.
The agency doesn't investigate criminal matters, but is responsible for looking into any matters that could threaten national security, including terrorist threats, said Campion.
"Again, I won't confirm or deny any involvement, but if we were looking into this matter, it would be to make sure there was no threat in any way to national security," she said.
CSIS was created in 1984 to investigate all matters relating to national security, including spy activity and links to terrorism in Canada.
The tractor-trailer involved left from Sudbury last Thursday morning and was heading to an Inco Ltd. processing plant in West Virginia.
The driver, whose identity has yet to be revealed by authorities, was pulled over at a highway gas station and doing a manual check of his vehicle when he was accosted by at least two young men, say police.
The truck was found abandoned on Hwy. 401 near Whitby around 3 am and the trucker escaped by jumping out of the back of the moving vehicle in Clarington around 4 am, say police.
Nickel pellets are used mainly in the production of stainless steel, but they have to be refined to be of any worth.
"That's why we still believe the thieves were after the truck...that stuff is basically worthless the way it was in the back of the truck," said Carrigan.
