Gwent Police arrested 15 travelling criminals in 3 days during Operation Ohio.
The operation, in which Gwent Police collaborated with 3 other police forces, is a focussed roads policing crackdown on cross-border criminality.
Teaming up with South Wales Police, Dyfed Powys Police and West Mercia Police, Operation Ohio ran from Tuesday 18 August to Thursday 20th August.
Activity targeted travelling criminals who use the main arterial routes across the Wales and West region to pass force boundaries to commit criminal activity.
Travelling criminals actively target premises across all four force areas in order to commit burglaries, thefts of fuel, scrap metal and auto crime.
Vehicles suspected of being used in criminal activity were identified using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology. The operation also involved 21 double-crewed vehicles and a dog unit.
Activity focussed in North Monmouthshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Crickhowell, Brecon and Herefordshire.
Gwent Police results include:
2 persons arrested for disqualified driving
1 person arrested for being wanted for possession of offensive weapon
3 persons arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft
1 person arrested for vehicle interference
5 persons arrested for possession of controlled drugs
1 person arrested for possession with intent to supply
1 person arrested for theft of red diesel
1 person arrested for driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs
3 Cannabis seizures
5 vehicles seized for having no insurance
2 vehicles seized for red diesel offences
7 persons reported for document offences
19 Intelligence Logs submitted
14 Fixed Penalty Tickets issued
1 stolen motorcycle recovered
2 stolen cars recovered
Sgt Huw Jones who headed up the operation for Gwent Police said:
“The primary operational objective of Ohio is to disrupt the activities of teams of travelling criminals, prevent them using the various borders to evade police units, and where possible, to deny them the use of the roads. This set of results just demonstrates the effectiveness of this type of multi-force operation.”
