Around £50,000 worth of stolen tools have been recovered during a Metropolitan Police operation at a car boot sale in Rainham, east London.
Officers carried out a major search of the Willow Farm Car Boot Sale on Sunday, April 6, amid growing concerns from tradespeople about a surge in tool thefts. The operation was led by the Met in collaboration with Essex Police and trading standards officers.
Using intelligence and with the help of a specialist sniffer dog trained to detect items marked with forensic water, officers identified and seized approximately 1,000 suspected stolen tools.
Four men, aged between 40 and 60 and from Hackney and Southend-on-Sea, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods. Alongside the tools, police also seized suspected stolen bikes, counterfeit goods, illegal vapes and cash.
Inspector Mark Connolly, from the Met’s neighbourhood policing team in east London, said: "We've heard from hard-working Londoners about the financial and personal impact of tool theft and we're working hard across the Met to tackle it."As well as working with partners to target prolific offenders in proactive and intelligence-led operations such as this, we're also carrying out tool marking events to make it harder for criminals to sell on stolen goods."
Inspector Daniel Selby, from Essex Police’s Grays Neighbourhood Policing Team, added: “Trading stolen or counterfeit goods is illegal and inexcusable, so we are working with our partners to disrupt supply lines and arrest those who are profiting from crime.
“Hard-working tradespeople rely on their tools to make a living and we appreciate how devastating the implications of a theft can be for victims and their families at a time when many people are struggling financially.
“Purchasing illegitimate goods only serves to line the pockets of the criminals, creates a market that inevitably leads to more offending, and can land the buyer in serious trouble.”
Police say efforts will now be made to identify the seized tools and trace them back to their rightful owners. Officers are encouraging all tradespeople to mark their tools, take photographs, and keep a record of serial numbers to help recover stolen items.
The Met will be holding a free tool marking event using SelectaDNA forensic water at the Toolstation in Ramac Way, Charlton, between 7.30am and 2pm on Tuesday, 8 April.
Officers are also urging members of the public to avoid buying goods they suspect may be stolen or counterfeit, warning that doing so fuels organised crime and is a criminal offence.
