AMI Group have noticed a great pattern in the theft of machinery recently with organised gangs stealing equipment or parts i.e batteries in the UK, to supply them to foreign criminal syndicates for immediate export to countries such as Ireland, Africa, the United Arab Emirates and several European countries.
Plant machinery is always a hot target for thieves as it proves very profitable and is very easily accessible during day to day activities. This can then be rapidly transported overseas either in its current state or for parts. It’s reported that the construction industry lost an estimated £800m in 2017 which has only increased year on year. The number of plant theft claims has risen steadily over the last five years according to research from Allianz Insurance plc. Whereas there were a recorded 428 claims of this nature in 2013, this had increased to 665 in 2017. Further, forecasts predict this to rise to around 730 by the end of 2018.
AMI Group have attended ports on many occasions during the recovery of stolen assets with the most recent being Hollyhead port whereby 2 stolen rollers were tracked, traced and recovered cross country. The rollers originally positioned within a compound in Doncaster and then travelled cross country using the M62 to travel towards Hollyhead port where an AMI finder was on the trail. With assistance from the North Wales police and PANIU AMI were able to gain access to the port and started their search of the HGV loading area, it was whilst there that the finder located the rollers along with other machinery on the rear of a HGV which was ready to board the ferry to Ireland. Once identified as stolen to the police the driver was detained and escorted back to Yorkshire for questioning. This stopped the lorry being exported to Ireland along with the stolen machinery.
It was thanks to the AMI AT5 battery operated unit that a GPS position was acquired from the rollers and traced cross country. The technology utilised with the AT5 solution along with the reporting cycle means the units are undetectable to scanners and often covertly installed meaning they cannot be located on stolen machinery.
