Police discover chop shops in car theft clampdown
Police uncovered two 'chop shops' in the Black Country and arrested seven men in a clampdown on car thieves.
West Midlands Police discovered the units in Kingswinford and Wolverhampton on Wednesday by officers investigating recent car thefts.
The arrests came after five vehicles were stolen from a Bilston car yard on Sunday and another one from Birmingham.
The chop shops, at Minerva Lane in Wolverhampton, and Oak Lane in Kingswinford, were discovered within an hour of each other, with the Wolverhampton site being the first.
Police managed to track down one of the stolen vehicles from Bilston, a BMW X5, to the Wolverhampton chop shop, where a 21-year-old was arrested. Two other men, aged 32 and 19, were detained from a garage containing car parts.
Earlier that day, officers on patrol in Bilston arrested two men, aged 22 and 31, on suspicion of car theft. They were found asleep in the back of a van displaying false number plates and one was arrested after a brief foot chase.
Further enquiries led officers to seize a BMW 1-Series parked nearby which police believe was also stolen from the Bilston car yard.
Later on Wednesday, police discovered the second chop shop in Kingswinford at 12.25pm.
The site, in an industrial unit off Oak Lane, was discovered after a BMW M3, which was stolen from Quinton Road West in Birmingham on Tuesday night, led officers to that location.
The vehicle had been stripped down and two men, aged 46 and 36 from Pensnett and Brierley Hill, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.
Both men have been released under investigation while enquiries continue. Meanwhile efforts are on-going to try and trace a man believed to have delivered the car to the Kingswinford site.
These operations by West Midlands Police come after the force launched a campaign last month urging the public to vigilant over chop shops.
They asked the public to report any suspicious garages or units which could be taking in stolen vehicles and stripping them down for spare parts.
Campaign lead, Chief Superintendent Chris Todd, said: “As a result of some great, inquisitive police work by our officers − and quick-time enquiries − we’ve managed to uncover two chop shops and make several arrests.
“Since we launched our campaign we’re getting a steady flow of information from the public about suspected chop shops, and as a result made arrests and closed premises down.
“We’ll take positive action on all information provided so I’d urge anyone with suspicions that a unit is handling stolen cars to contact us."
Information can be passed to West Midlands Police on 101.
