Canvey: Three arrested over £640k stolen cars probe

Essex Police says incidents of cars being stolen to order is increasing

Police investigating organised crime arrested three men after finding suspected stolen cars at an industrial estate.

Essex Police said officers found vehicles at a unit off Shannon Way, on Canvey Island, on Wednesday morning.

The force said it recovered vehicles and other items that were reported stolen from across the south east.

Detectives say they are investigating the theft of £640,000 in stolen vehicles.

"We are determined to target organised vehicle crime in all its forms," said PC Paul Gerrish, from Essex's stolen vehicle intelligence unit.

"This investigation is very much connected to organised crime and this operation is just one element of that."

Police said they found vehicles and items that had been stolen in Surrey, London, Thames Valley and Essex

The three men, all aged in their 20s, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and released on conditional bail until August.

PC Gerrish previously told the BBC that incidents of high-value cars being stolen to order, sometimes being transported abroad, was "getting hotter"

His unit recovered 480 cars in 2021, but more than 600 cars in 2022.