Celtic Crackdown
Dyfed-Powys Police in the Welshpool area requested TER’s assistance with the identification of a number of items of equipment during an operation which started in May. On the initial operation a JCB 3CX backhoe loader, stolen from North Yorkshire in 2004, and a Takeuchi TB125 mini-excavator, stolen from Essex in 2004, were identified by TER.
Subsequently police warrants were served at a number of locations in the Welsh borders which resulted in the recovery of four telehandlers, a Bobcat mini-excavator and a Kubota mini-excavator. One of the telehandlers, a Cat TH63, was bearing a real Australian identity, although it had in fact been stolen from London in 2003. A Manitou MT932 telehandler was found to have a French identity – the real one is still in France. This one had been stolen from Surrey in 2004.
The total value of the recovered equipment was in excess of £120,000. Police Sergeant Simon Heeley of Dyfed-Powys Police said TER’s assistance had been invaluable. “We found TER especially effective when we located a JCB telehandler abandoned in woodland,” he said. “Within minutes of contacting TER, they were able to provide us with full details and confirm it was stolen.” The recovered equipment was owned by Norwich Union, MMA Insurance, ACE Europe, HSB Haughton, AXA Insurance and Zurich Financial Services and was sold by TER on behalf of insurers.