Police seize suspected stolen vehicles and illegal vapes in Coventry crime operation

Cops in Coventry have seized suspected stolen vehicles, illegal vapes and cigarettes in an operation targeting local crime in the city.

Officers in Coventry were out in the North East of their local policing area (LPA) conducting Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operations.

The operation was carried out on Wednesday (31 January) by West Midlands Police neighbourhood teams and specialist traffic teams after reports of vehicle crime.

During the day, the team arrested someone on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle and recovered four vehicles, police confirmed.

“Two were flagged as stolen, one was seized for no insurance, and another was seized for further investigations following a theft from motor vehicle report,” a police statement read.

“Alongside this operation, officers did reassurance patrols in areas where we’ve had reports of public nuisance, and supported multiple Trading Standards operations where large quantities of illegal vapes and cigarettes were seized.”

The operation was carried out as part of the force’s Op Speedy. Coventry LPA runs the operation every month to allow officers to deal with local priorities and act on public intelligence, making a real impact in the community.

“It is an opportunity to build trust with our local residents and offer high visibility police presence”, the statement continued.

“On these proactive policing days, we see a number of specialist resources, like our traffic and drones team, come from across the force to help tackle very local issues.

“One of our local priorities is to prosecute those committing vehicle crime, and reunite victims with their vehicles, tools, and valuables.”

Inspector Sarah Stobbart said “Operation Speedy gives my local neighbourhood officers the opportunity to act on issues that matter to you. You have told us that vehicle crime is a continuous problem in the North East area and we are working towards disrupting this pattern of criminality.

“As a result of our efforts yesterday, we have seen no new reports of vehicle crime in the area within 24 hours which means using specialist tactics and resources works.

“We will continue to listen to your feedback so do get in touch if you have some information you would like to give us.”