Thousands of suspects arrested and hundreds of stolen vehicles recovered following West Midlands police operation
A police operation has targeted car theft gangs and helped to recover stolen cars across the West Midlands.
Traffic units at West Midlands Police have arrested nearly 2,500 suspects and recovered more than 1,000 stolen vehicles.
The offensive, which is named "Operation Cantil" uses intelligence-led patrol strategies to ensure officers are in the right place at the right time to target crooks hunting high-value cars.
This year, a total of 2,465 people have been arrested by Op Cantil patrols, including 769 car crime suspects, and 1,035 stolen cars have been recovered.
This includes two major car theft rings in Solihull and Walsall that’s seen a total of seven men charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to steal motor vehicles.
All seven are either remanded in prison or on bail awaiting trial.
Additionally, two teenagers who are suspected of car-jacking a woman in Yardley Wood as she returned from the school run were arrested on Wednesday, December 16.
The 32-year-old’s VW Golf was recovered nearby and two teenagers, aged 19 and 17, detained on suspicion of robbery.
West Midlands Police Detective Sergeant Sandy Thompson, from Force CID, said: “The operation doesn’t ‘knee jerk’ to crime.
"We examine crime trends, intelligence and offender behaviour in affected areas before a decision is made on were resources are sent.
“In short, we target where we believe the offenders live rather than following simple crime analysis.
"It’s an approach that’s really paying off with a big reduction in these types of offences − and we’re making good arrests on a daily basis.
“Since the start of the year, car-key burglaries across the West Midlands are down by 38 per cent, and that’s as a result of us taking out offenders who were causing the most harm."
