Police arrest 23 in parts swoop
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• Hampshire Police arrested 23 people in a raid on a Southampton-based company last week, as part of its continuing investigation into large-scale truck thefts.
In a massive operation involving 50 detectives and uniformed officers, the premises of Cranes and Commercials (Exports) in the city's Western Docks, were raided. At the same time a subsidiary of the company based at Morestead, near Owslebury was also searched. A number of commercial vehicle components were recovered by the police, who also searched a private house.
All those arrested have since been released on bail by Southampton Police pending further enquiries. Detective Inspector Hines says that a large number of commercial vehicle components recovered by police have been identified as having originated from vehicles stolen in London and the Home Counties.
Hines reports that the Police are still in the process of identifying the remaining components, and have been working closely with vehicle manufacturers in an attempt to track down the original owners: "We are clearly looking at vehicles that have been stolen nationally, and we are checking with any vehicle that has been reported stolen.".
Dunkerley Transport of Yate, Avon, had some unwanted visitors during the night of 29 July when thieves stole one of its Foden S106 6x4 tractive units, worth over .225,000.
The S106 is distinctively finished with a royal blue livery and yellow lettering and has alloy wheels, an alloy tank and a vertical exhaust. Its registration number is 0WS795Y; chassis number 212685 and the number of its NTE 350 Cummins engine is 23182379. It is equipped with a Fuller RTX 11613 gearbox.
Anyone with information which could lead to the recovery of the S106 should contact Richard Dunkerley on (0454) 22607.