A 25-year-old car wash attendant from Narere is in police custody after he was caught driving a taxi that had been reported stolen two days earlier.
According to Police, the incident began on Friday morning when a 42-year-old taxi driver brought his vehicle to a car wash in Narere.
Trusting that his vehicle was in safe hands, the man left to run some errands nearby.
However, upon his return, the taxi was nowhere to be seen.
The matter was immediately reported at the Nasinu Police Station.
A full alert was issued to all police stations around the country as authorities began the search for the missing vehicle.
That search ended late last night at a roadblock set up near the Lomolomo Community Post in Lautoka, more than 250 kilometres from where the vehicle was taken.
Police confirmed that the driver of the taxi at the time of the stop was the same 25-year-old car wash attendant.
He was arrested on the spot and escorted back to Suva this morning, where he was handed over to officers at the Nasinu Police Station.
Police investigations into the matter are continuing.