Car theft ‘chop shops’ uncovered in Essex

Essex Police have uncovered a significant car theft syndicate in Southend, responsible for stealing Ford Fiestas and other cars from across Essex and London areas.

Officers from the Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit and Crime Scene Investigators were part of a team who examined several areas of an industrial estate in the Southend area for stolen cars.

Police say they suspect the crime syndicate is linked to theft of multiple Ford Fiestas, Ford Mondeos and Ford Ecosport.

The locations of the ‘chop shops’ which strip cars of their parts were discovered following an arrest of two suspects last week for Going Equipped to Steal.

The discovery comes days after the same team found another active stolen vehicle chop shop on Canvey Island. The location which was stripping German made cars was surrounded by officers and 3 suspects were caught trying to escape.

Investigators found evidence of in excess of £640k of stolen vehicles having passed through the unit in just a few of weeks.

In the UK, only one in four victims of car theft will see their vehicle again, according to the latest European Union Serious Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) report.

The report says how the organised crime syndicates who steal cars are run in a similar way to modern businesses, with management, operatives, and sales workers – drawing comparisons to high level international drug trafficking cartels.

In some cases, cars are stolen ‘to order’ with international buyers making vehicle requests to criminal organisations who go and track them down based on their client’s brief.

Owners of any of the cars found will be notified in due course of the investigation to confirm if their vehicle or their vehicle remains were identified at the locations.