Police teams from across Essex joined forces for a targeted operation to tackle cloned vehicles, dangerous drivers and offenders using our roads to commit crime.

Over three operational days between 24 and 26 March, the operation brought together officers from the Road Safety Team, Roads Policing Unit, Operational Support Group and local policing teams in a coordinated effort to prevent and detect crime and keep people safe.

The focus was on identifying vehicles being used illegally – including cloned and stolen vehicles, disqualified and uninsured drivers, and offenders travelling across force borders to evade arrest.

Across the three days, officers stopped 153 vehicles, leading to 10 arrests and 21 vehicles seized for a range of offences linked to criminal use of Essex’s roads.

Tackling cloned vehicles matters because cloned vehicles – where criminals use false registration plates to disguise a vehicle’s true identity – pose a serious risk to road safety and are often linked to wider criminality.

Offenders use cloned plates to avoid detection, evade enforcement and may even continue driving even when they are disqualified or uninsured. This puts law abiding road users at risk and makes it harder to trace vehicles connected to other crimes.

Sergeant Jim Allen said:
“Officers found a significant prevalence of cloned vehicles, some linked to serious crimes, with offenders using registration plate changes to evade detection.
Using false plates is not a minor offence – it is a deliberate attempt to undermine the justice system, avoid responsibility and continue offending while putting the public in danger.
The operation delivered strong results throughout all three days, highlighting the importance of proactive roads policing to protecting the public and our neighbourhoods”.

On Tuesday 24 March, officers identified two cloned vehicles – a van and an Audi TT. Both drivers were disqualified from driving, showing a clear attempt to evade the justice system and continue using the roads illegally.

On the second night, officers again saw a high number of cloned vehicles:
• A 33 year old driver of a cloned car was found to be uninsured, with two offences of making off without payment for fuel linked to the vehicle.
• A cloned Audi A3, seen acting suspiciously in Norwich, was tactically stopped by the Road Safety Team on the M11. The driver and two passengers were arrested, with enquiries showing the car had been stolen two days earlier from the Greater London area and was linked to burglaries in Norwich.
• The driver of a BMW was arrested after being found driving despite bail conditions specifically banning them from being behind the wheel. Officers also located false registration plates inside the vehicle.

That same evening, a van failed to stop in Basildon before being brought to a stop near Brentwood, where the driver was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

On day three, officers stopped two cloned vehicles, resulting in the drivers being arrested for drug driving, with one also arrested on suspicion of possession of a knife and the other on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.

Officers also saw the benefits of fast, coordinated policing on the ground. The rapid recovery of a stolen car, and particularly a stolen motorcycle recovered within just 20 minutes, highlighted effective teamwork and swift response to live incidents showing how effective a coordinated response can be.

Police continue to encounter a high number of disqualified and uninsured drivers, behaviour officers say is completely unacceptable.

We continue to detect a high number of disqualified and uninsured drivers using our roads, something that is completely unacceptable. These drivers have already been deemed unsafe or unfit to drive, and by ignoring the law they put innocent members of the public at serious risk of harm.

The operation also identified offenders crossing police force borders in an attempt to avoid detection with arrests were linked to offences in the Metropolitan Police area, with Norfolk.

This type of operation shows the cross cutting capability of our roads policing teams to identify and detect crime. Officers police the entire county on high-visibility, proactive patrols and often come across those who believe they can travel across borders to avoid arrest – it’s just not true, because when it comes to policing, for us, there are no borders. Crime is crime and no matter where it is committed, we will deal with the suspects if they are here in Essex.

Across the three days, officers also recorded:
• 31 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs)
• 13 stop and searches
• 21 vehicle seizures

Operations like this will continue, with roads policing playing a vital role in tackling criminality, protecting communities and keeping Essex’s roads safe for everyone.
I’d encourage the public to tell us about anyone who doesn’t uphold the law or any vehicle that is suspected of being cloned, to contact us.

With permissions https://essexpolicemedia.co.uk/