Theft gang covers the SE
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by Amanda Bradbury • A truck crime investigation expected to uncover evidence of the theft of about 300 LGVs by one gang is also revealing how the most successful truck thieves in the country organise their multi-million pound truck parts business.
The Metropolitan Police's Stolen Vehicle Investigation Squad's Operation Sallow is building a picture of how the gang receives orders—mainly for engines, gearboxes and differentials.
Details are also emerging of how the thieves track down the required models, steal them, dismantle them and ship the parts around the country and abroad.
Officers working on Operation Sallow stress the organised nature of the thefts; they talk of organisers who operate as company directors. Future arrests could include trained motor mechanics who are said to carry out these organisers' instructions.
Orders for truck parts are believed to be collated in a central office. Only one possible HQ has been found so far although the gang has been described as a national organisation.
This office is said to have instructed mobile teams of thieves to find vehicles for stripping. The vehicles favoured by thieves, judging by the numbers stolen, is headed by Mercedes, followed by Iveco Ford, Volvo, Leyland Daf and Scania.
Once instructed, the thieves are said to comb laybys near to the motorway network to compile a location diary with names and addresses of owners. According to Operation Sallow, a typical gang has four members who split into pairs to steal the vehicles. These thefts follow a distinct pattern.
The thieves generally strike between midnight and 04:00hrs, bypassing any alarm systems on the yard. They typically smash the driver's window, force the steering lock and hotwire the ignition system. Tractive units are the prime target but if the stolen vehicle is hitched to a semi the entire artic may be taken.
Police believe that the organisation has the contacts to dispose of stolen loads as well as vehicles.
They also have evidence that parts from many of the stolen trucks have been exported through Felixstowe—other ports may be involved too—and the network is not restricted to the Continent Operation Sallow has traced parts stolen in the UK as far afield as South Africa and Malaysia.