Following the part it played in prosecuting five men over £700,000 worth of stolen vehicles (see CT June, p9), The National Plant and Equipment Register (TER) has recovered £120,000 worth of stolen plant in West Wales.
Among the items recovered during a series of raids around Welshpool were four telehandlers, a JCB backhoe loader, a skid steer loader, and four mini diggers.
The stolen plant was recovered after Dyfed-Powys Police asked TER to identify a number of items of equipment during a police operation – codenamed Tess – near Welshpool.
TER’s investigation team also discovered that one of the telehandlers – a £20,000 Manitou – had been stolen from Surrey in June 2004. This had been ‘rung’ (had its identity altered by criminals, with what turned out to be a French identity).
Meanwhile, it transpired that the Caterpillar telehandler – stolen from London in December 2003 – had the same identity as one sold by Caterpillar in Australia in 2002.
Following further operations conducted by Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales, and supported by TER, warrants were executed on properties around Welshpool, resulting in a further five recoveries of stolen equipment valued at £76,000.
TER, which operates an international database of owned and stolen equipment, recovered the equipment on behalf of the owners and insurance companies.
Contact: www.ter-europe.org
