Cash seized as scrap dealers hit by police raids

POLICE have carried out raids on 10 scrap metal dealers across West Yorkshire following months of investigations into the theft and disposal of stolen metal.

Officers arrested a total of 28 people, seized £115,000 in cash and large amounts of stolen metal including manhole covers and cable.

Of the scrapyards raided, three were in the Dewsbury area and two in Huddersfield, with the remainder in Leeds, Keighley and Wakefield.

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Police have already charged eight people with handling stolen metal and a further eight have been bailed. The rest were in custody last night.

Assistant Chief Constable Geoff Dodd said: “Nationally, metal theft has become a big issue with thieves going after large-scale targets such as the transport infrastructure and small-scale items such as plaques marking the passing away of a loved one.

“But the human impact on victims remains the same and our action over the last three days sends out a loud and clear message that West Yorkshire Police will not tolerate metal theft.

“The number of instances of metal theft in West Yorkshire is falling – but there is still a lot of work to be done and this operation sends out a loud and clear message that we mean business.”

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Mr Dodd stressed that the vast majority of scrap metal dealers operate legitimate businesses.

“During this operation we have raided 10 dealers, but there are many more scrap metal dealers in West Yorkshire,” he said. “The majority of them work with us to help stop the movement of stolen metal.

“We have been working closely with representatives of the trade, as well as neighbouring forces and regional partners in government and industry to better regulate this area.”

Of the 28 arrested, two are women and 26 are men aged between 19 and 74.

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Mr Dodd said this was not the end of police activity to tackle metal theft.

“The answer lies within the communities which we serve and we need people to work with us – whether that’s legitimate scrap metal dealers passing on information about people within their trade acting illegally or members of the public spotting something that doesn’t look right and letting us know about it.”

A new drive to tackle metal theft was launched yesterday by South Yorkshire Police. The force is advising people to mark items with an address, a postcode and a type of sticker that is very difficult to remove.