A total of 25 people were arrested by Thames Valley Police on Tuesday morning, 29 May, after six warrants were executed as part of a crackdown on scrap metal thefts across the Thames Valley region. The operation, one of the largest ever conducted by Thames Valley Police, involved more than 400 officers carrying out warrants at six scrap metal merchants across Thames Valley, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. Ten residential addresses connected to these businesses were also involved. Searches are still ongoing and will be for several days.
Property seized so far includes:
•Network Rail track
•15 tons of suspected stolen Scottish Southern electricity cable
•Suspected stolen cast iron drain covers
•A war memorial plaque
•Four Suspected Stolen JCB/digger buckets
•BT cable
•Suspected unlicensed firearms and prohibited weapons
•Suspected class A drugs
•Over £400,000 cash
Det Insp Rodger Cartwright, investigating officer in the operation, said: “Metal theft is one of the fastest growing crimes nationally. Some scrap metal dealers are not as scrupulous as they should be at checking where the items brought to their yard come from. By working with all metal dealers and other agencies, we hope to reduce the opportunities for metal thieves to trade with registered dealers.”
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