Bringing serial criminals who make vehicle crime their career choice to justice is one of our priorities.

NaVCIS recently assisted West Midlands police with Operation Luminary, an investigation into the theft of loaded HGV trailers and high value BMW vehicles.

On Monday 19 December, three men were sentenced to a combined total of 22 years in prison.

Matthew Wilkes and Alan Edwards were found guilty of conspiracy to steal BMW cars, lorries and trailers from across the country. Conrad Pearce was found guilty of conspiracy to steal HGVs and trailers.

The crimes took place over a two year span in 2020 and 2021 and their haul included seven BMW cars valued at £336k and goods to the value of around £1 million.

The trio worked together to steal high value BMW cars from dealerships and sales forecourts across the country with thefts taking place in Worcester, Cheshire, Hampshire, Thames Valley, London, Avon and Somerset.

The group also stole 10 HGV trailers laden with goods including laptops, household appliances and medical supplies from transport hubs across Birmingham, Suffolk, the East Midlands, Leicestershire and Merseyside. A stolen HGV cab on false plates was used to hook up the trailers which were then driven away and parked securely. The registration plates on their stolen cab were continuously changed to avoid detection.

The men were arrested in March 2021 and searches of their homes led to the discovery of sophisticated tech including scanners, key cloning equipment, tracker and tracer radios to track vehicles and block communication signals. Large quantities of cash, sets of registration plates, mobile phones used as burner or clean phones and counting machines were also found.

The victims of these crimes are numerous. The loss of contracts to the victims and huge insurance losses only further burdens the transport industry which ultimately results in higher prices for consumers.