Eleven men have been arrested in a police operation to target thefts from lorries and freight crime across the region.
Our roads policing unit have been working with officers from Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and West Yorkshire to target criminals using the road networks.
The operation saw officers working to help deter criminal gangs from targeting delivery lorries by ensuring police are present in hot-spot areas, especially during the evenings, and sharing details of reports and information across borders.
The men were arrested in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and West Yorkshire and on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft, document and driving offences.
During the operation officers also recovered two HGVs which were believed to have been cloned and a lorry which was believed to have been stolen.
A number of other vehicles were also seized due to document, driving or traffic offences.
PC Johnathan Terry helped coordinate the operation in Derbyshire. He said: “The aim of the operation was to deter crimes affecting freight on our roads with increased patrols in hot-spot areas such as lay-bys or parking areas on major routes through our county, while sharing information and existing intelligence to target travelling criminality.
“We find that because of our location, we do tend to see a lot of lorries stopping overnight, and while most do so without any issues, we do see an increased risk of HGVs being targeted for that reason.”
PC Terry added: “Working alongside other police forces in our region has helped us to achieve a successful operation to target crimes which not only has an impact on businesses, but for drivers who may fear being hurt and all of us who may see increased prices for goods and disruption to supply chains.
“We will be continuing to work to keep our roads safe, and further similar operations are being planned for the future.”
Northamptonshire Police was one of the forces we worked alongside during the initiative, known as Operation Fuego.
Jamie Culverhouse was their force lead for the operation, He said: “This operation is a great example of what can be achieved as a region in the fight against crime and I am pleased that our real-time intelligence support resulted in these arrests and vehicle seizures.
“We absolutely will not tolerate organised crime gangs coming into our region committing freight crime, and we will continue to pull together with other forces to stamp it out.”
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