Police in Victoria have arrested four people in relation to an organised car theft syndicate in Melbourne, having recovered 36 stolen cars in the process.
Last week, four people – including the alleged ringleader of the syndicate – were arrested by Melton Crime Investigation Unit detectives in Sunbury.
The group allegedly stole a Holden Commodore from a Caroline Springs cafe on March 23, with the stolen vehicle tracked by police to a property in Truganina.
Monitoring by the Air Wing led to the discovery of at least four allegedly stolen vehicles in the paddock at the back of the Truganina property, which subsequently fled once they noticed the helicopter.
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Screenshots taken from footage supplied by Victoria Police
Most of the vehicles were tracked to areas in Melbourne’s south-eastern and eastern suburbs and found unoccupied later that day, however the driver of one of the vehicles got it bogged after attempting to flee the property out the back of a wire fence.
The group has been linked to a property in Diggers Rest where 30 allegedly stolen vehicles were recovered earlier this year, including a tow truck and a car carrier trailer.
These vehicles included several Holden Commodores, a HSV Maloo – reportedly valued at $200,000 – a Toyota LandCruiser and car carrier trailers.
Police allege the vehicles were stolen from Albert Park, Brighton, Caroline Springs, Essendon and Werribee, with the alleged offenders forcing entry and using an onboard diagnostics tool to steal them – two of which were found at the Sunbury address.
It’s also alleged that several registration plates stolen from railway stations were located inside the seized vehicles.
In addition to stealing vehicles, the group has been linked to taking “significant quantities of copper which they were stripping and on selling”.
“This result is extremely positive for the community, with investigators from Melton working tirelessly over the last few weeks to not only recover these vehicles but to put an end to further thefts,” Melton Crime Investigation Unit, Detective Acting Sergeant David Bonnier said in a media statement.
“The result also highlights our ongoing commitment to addressing the rise in car thefts which we know are of concern to both police and the community.
“We are absolutely committed to continue targeting those behind organised vehicle thefts and getting cars back into the hands of their rightful owners.”
As previously reported, motor vehicle theft is at an all-time high in Victoria, with one in five vehicles being stolen without their keys.
Instead, thieves are using an OBD-reading tool intended for mechanics and locksmiths to disable a car’s alarm, delete the original keys paired to the car and then pair a new set of keys, with the only physical requirements for criminals being hacking into the front bumper, disabling the horn and unlocking a door.
This method has been extensively reported on by CarExpert, particularly relating to the sharp increase in thefts of VF Holden Commodores.
While some stolen Commodores are being used to joyride, others are being rebirthed, in which certain identifying features from multiple cars – such as Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) and chassis numbers – are being transferred to pass a vehicle off as another vehicle.
A significant number of number plate theft offences were also recorded last year, which often leads to offenders using the stolen items to ““carry out further serious offending in stolen vehicles”.
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