Cops lock down roads in Operation Utah (From Echo)

Cops lock down roads in Operation Utah

8:20am Saturday 12th December 2009

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POLICE officers from six forces flooded south Essex yesterday in a huge operation to snare crooks coming into the county.

About 200 officers locked down roads from the Dartford River Crossing through to Thurrock, Basildon, Grays, Purfleet, South Ockendon and Canvey in a bid to catch criminals travelling in and out of the area.

In the first ten hours of the 12-hour operation, 14 drivers were arrested for offences including drugs and driving while disqualified.

l 40 uninsured vehicles were seized l 80 fixed penalty fines for £60 were issued for not wearing seatbelts or using mobile phones while driving l 21 vehicles were stopped from travelling any further due to poor mechanical condition l 31 on-the-spot fines were handed out to foreign lorry drivers l HMRC gave out £85,000 of fines.

Officers used automated number plate recognition cameras.

The Essex Police helicopter, CID and special branch were joined by colleagues from Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertford, Bedford Cambridge and Kent.

Vehicles caught by the cameras were pulled into a makeshift search bay at the Moto Service station on the M25 at Thurrock.

There Essex Police’s specialist search officers, with the help of drugs dogs, hunted through the cars looking for drugs, stolen loot, counterfeit goods and other tools of the criminal trade.

Essex Police’s Insp Paul Wells, who headed up the crackdown, codenamed Operation Utah, said: “In the run-up to Christmas you can only guess how many people will be travelling through this area.

“But of those some are serious criminals while others are travelling with no insurance, or their vehicles have no registered keepers. ”

Officers from HM Customs and Revenue were also on the lookout for vehicles running on illegal red diesel, while the Department of Work and Pensions was out to get those claiming benefits while working.

The UK Border Agency were also on hand in case vehicles were harbouring illegal immigrants.

One man was arrested for drugs possession and officers searched a van full of doorstep salesmen, all known to police, which contained a huge haul of goods.

Essex Police’s chief constable, Jim Barker-McCardle, said at the operation: “This is about tackling criminality and criminals using the roads of Essex.

“It’s also about the issues around public safety brought about by these criminals who are often travelling in uninsured and untaxed vehicles.”

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