Police target Transits
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by Amanda Bradbury • Kent police officers have raided a gypsy site near Rochester in the first stage of a national crackdown on Transit theft.
More than 15 vans were recovered near the site. Some were found in parts for shipment abroad.
The raid was a culmination of weeks of intelligence gathering by Kent officers: five people were arrested, one of whom was later released.
Hann said the raid was the first piece in a jigsaw which could lead to the detection of a nationwide network of Transit theft crime.
"We lost several hundred Transits in this county alone last year, but it is not a localised problem. This is on a national scale which is operated by a national network. This is the first part of the jigsaw," says a police spokesman.
The Rochester raid, called Operation Knoll, is part of another general vehicle and plant theft crackdown, codenamed Operation Eagle, which kicked off on Monday (17 March) with a series of police spotchecks on the A2 and A20 involving officers from all areas of the county. Police are targeting checks on the trucks and vans that thieves are known to favour.
Extra training is being offered to officers to spot the tell-tale signs of a stolen truck.
The police checks are being supplemented with multi-agency checks involving the DVLA, Department of Transport and Vehicle Inspectorate throughout the county this week.