Three men arrested as part of operation to target van thieves

Three men have been arrested as part of an operation to target thieves who stole from vans on more than 130 occasions across Erewash and South Derbyshire.

Officers made the arrests in a rural location in Weston-on-Trent during the early hours of Wednesday 14th January and later in Spondon as part of Operation Askwicken.

The operation was in connection with the theft of a large number of tools from the vans of tradespeople over the last year in numerous locations including Borrowash, as well as Derby, Stenson Fields and Sinfin.

The day of action involved numerous officers from the Neighbourhood Enforcement Team, Neighbourhood Acquisitive Crime Team and Swadlincote Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Two men, aged 36 and 39, were arrested in Weston-on-Trent on suspicion of conspiracy to steal and money laundering.

A third man, aged 41, was later arrested in Spondon on suspicion of conspiracy to steal.

All three have been released on conditional bail whilst enquiries continue.

In addition, a significant number of tools suspected to have been stolen have been recovered.

Three mopeds, two cars and a van have also been seized.

In a statement, Derbyshire Police officers said there was a committment to tackling issues that are of the most concern to residents in our community.