8:06 am, January 27, 2025
Police in Essex have identified and closed down an illegal ‘chop shop’ which is believed to have been selling stolen cars and their parts on the black market.
Officers in Basildon were investigating a stolen BMW when enquiries led them to a storage yard in the Wickford area last Thursday.
The investigation team, part of Basildon’s community policing unit, immediately applied for an emergency warrant to search the site and were granted permission to carry out a strike that night.
Upon enterring the yard, officers found the BMW they were looking for as well as a van, which was also believed to have been stolen.
They also recovered equipment and items ‘indicative of vehicles being taken apart’ and investigations into the operation are now continuing.
Reacting to the successful raid on the site, Sergeant Ben Bailey, of Basildon Community Policing Team, said: ‘We are committed to tackling vehicle theft as we’re well aware this is one of the issues that matter most to our communities.
‘We know the devastating impact that having your car, your van or your motorbike stolen can have, that’s why it’s a force priority and we are committed to bringing a halt to it by focussing on organised vehicle crime in particular
‘In this case, we were able to conduct a thorough search of the site and locate another stolen vehicle alongside further evidence.’
Officers forcing entry into the unit in Wickford (©Essex Police)
Car Dealer recently reported how police in Norfolk closed down another illegal chop shop, which was so large it took officers five days to fully dismantle the site
A ‘chop shop’ is an operation which sees a number of vehicles stolen and then dismantled, with their parts being sold on for profit. In some cases the parts are also used to repair other stolen cars, which are then sold on illegally.
Last year, a man was jailed for over five years for his role in a similar operation in Burnley.
