Scores arrested by officers who recover hundreds of vehicle parts believed to be stolen in a campaign to tackle keyless vehicle theft
Officers have arrested 84 people, including 16 on suspicion of motor vehicle theft, during a week of coordinated activity to tackle keyless vehicle theft.
They also seized five Land Rover Range Rovers and hundreds of vehicle parts, believed to have been stolen and destined for sale abroad, during an operation at the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) launched Operation Endeavour on Tuesday, 3 February in response to a rise in theft of motor vehicles. This is believed to be the result of organised criminals increasingly stealing keyless vehicles using a device which bypasses the vehicle’s electronics, allowing them to drive them away without the owner’s key.
This week, officers across London have been raising awareness of keyless vehicle theft to drivers, issuing 30,000 flyers featuring advice on how to avoid being a victim of this crime.
From midday yesterday, Thursday, 5 February, around 800 officers from the MPS, Kent, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey and Thames Valley Police services monitored around 20 arterial roads, stopping vehicles believed to have been stolen or linked to other crime. They seized 222 vehicles, two of which were believed stolen during the proactive operation, codenamed Lockdown.
The vehicles were seized for offences including driving with no insurance.
This followed a morning of local operations to stop and check that vehicles were licensed and being driven by their legitimate owners, and ongoing work by the Territorial Support Group (TSG) to trace wanted vehicle thieves.
Sixteen people in total were arrested for theft of motor vehicle.
A further 68 people were arrested for offences including possession of offensive weapons, burglary, money laundering and driving while disqualified.
In a joint, intelligence-led operation with ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) at the Port of Felixstowe, seven containers filled with cars and vehicle parts believed stolen were examined.
Five Land Rover Range Rovers, believed stolen from Surrey, South Woodford and Islington were found in containers destined for Kenya.
Hundreds of vehicle parts including engines were also found in the containers destined for Cyrpus.
It is believed that the parts – some of which appear to belong to 12 BMW’s reported as stolen from east London – would have been further exported to other countries to be sold.
No arrests have been made in relation to the containers at this stage. Enquiries and searches are ongoing.
Detective Chief Superintendent Carl Bussey, lead for Operation Endeavour, said: “We began opening the containers on Tuesday. They are so jammed with cars and vehicle parts that we are still extracting the contents.
“In one container, bikes, also believed stolen, were packed around vehicle parts to disguise the true contents of the container from any inspectors.
“I launched Operation Endeavour by emphasising the need for drivers to secure their vehicles in order to try and prevent keyless vehicle theft. This, combined with the joint enforcement work with our colleagues in the Home Counties and AVCIS, will help us reduce vehicle theft and arrest the organised criminals behind it.”
Detective Inspector Wayne Cooke, of AVCIS, said: “AVCIS has been supporting our Metropolitan Police Service colleagues with our ports intelligence unit staff identifying opportunities for examining and recovering vehicles and vehicle parts stolen through keyless methods. “As part of this campaign we have successfully disrupted a number of high value vehicles heading to overseas countries. Recovering vehicles such as these in Operation Endeavour offers opportunities for further investigation with particular emphasis in tackling organised crime groups involved in vehicle criminality “This sends the clearest message to criminals that agencies are working together to tackle keyless offending and put the fear of crime back onto the criminal.”