32 vehicles were seized and 13 people arrested as part of Operation Utah which took place on Thursday 11th December.
The large-scale operation targeting travelling criminals in Gwent involved more than 150 police officers from 6 forces and the support of representatives from several key enforcement agencies.
Vehicles in the vicinity of the M4 motorway and using the network of roads surrounding it were scanned by special Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) units during the course of the day, which alerted officers to any crime the vehicle or its occupants were wanted for, from drug dealing to driving with no insurance and benefit cheats.
ANPR systems instantly check up to 3,000 vehicles an hour against various databases of intelligence. This includes information provided by police officers, Crimestoppers, the DVLA and other forces about vehicles used by disqualified drivers, people wanted on warrant and those who are suspected of committing crime.
If a suspicious vehicle is identified by ANPR, police units intercept to carry out checks on the vehicle and occupants. The expertise of the other agencies involved can then be called on.
Police officers from Gwent, South Wales, Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall and Wiltshire were involved, with support from the DVLA, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), VOSA (Vehicle Inspectorate), HM Revenue and Customs, Her Majesty’s Court Service and the Environment Agency.
Results from the day included:
Total arrests = 13
- 6 people arrested who were wanted on warrant
- 4 people arrested for drug offences
- 1 person arrested for drink driving
- 1 person arrested for possession of an offensive weapon
- 1 person arrested for theft
2 people were cautioned for possession of cannabis
21 fixed penalty notices were issued for a variety of offences including having no vehicle insurance, no MOT/tax, number plate offences and not wearing as seatbelt
26 vehicles were seized under section 165 of the road traffic act for having no insurance and poor vehicle maintenance
135 drivers were breathalysed
23 prohibition notices were issued by VOSA for overloaded Light Goods Vehicles and poor vehicle maintenance
6 vehicles were seized by DVLA for having no tax
2 cases of benefit fraud were detected by Department of Work and Pensions
5 offences were identified by the Environment Agency
Sergeant Huw Jones, who co-ordinated the operation on behalf of Gwent Police said:
“ANPR technology enables us to quickly and easily identify people using the road networks to commit crime.
Bringing together our neighbouring forces and the expertise of partner agencies during Operation Utah means we can deal with a wide range of offences at one site.
ANPR is a vital roads policing tool used day-in, day-out to detect, disrupt and generally make it difficult for crime groups to operate using transport networks in the region. The results of this operation demonstrates the efficiency of this technology and we will continue to use it to target travelling criminals in Gwent.”
