Police ran Operation Crossbow today to catch criminals crossing Cheshire’s borders.
Officers from four forces took part in the crackdown, designed to disrupt the criminal network using key routes in the county.
The operation was carried out across Cheshire with teams from Cheshire Police, Greater Manchester Police, Staffordshire Police and West Mercia Police.
Roads Policing Inspector Steve Griffiths, from Cheshire Police, said: “Criminals often rely on the road network to enable them to commit criminal offences.
“They don’t view force boundaries as a bar to committing these offences and will often cross borders to conduct their activity.
“There is a link between the illegal use of vehicles and other serious crime.”
Officers used technology such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to identify potential offenders.
“Uninsured drivers pose a threat to other road users and we are able to identify them, take them off the road and make the county’s road network much safer for legal road users,” added Insp Griffiths.
Today was the fifth phase of Operation Crossbow, with previous ones resulting in more than 1,000 vehicle stops, more than 100 vehicle seizures and more than 30 arrests for offences ranging from burglary to drugs possession to disqualified drivers.
Today’s operation involved more than 150 officers from four police forces, as well as officers from Central Motorway Policing Group and staff from Customs and Revenue, the Environment Agency and DVSA.
“The message is clear – if you use stolen vehicles, you drive illegally, you travel the roads to commit crime, we will target you,” said Insp Griffiths.
Officers from Cheshire Police say members of the public can report illegal use of vehicles to the police on 101.
Alternatively information can be reported anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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