Police are winning the war against car crime in Aberdeen, a leading detective claimed last night.
Eight people were in custody yesterday after officers used a helicopter to track down alleged thieves and £70,000 of stolen vehicles.
Last night the detective tasked with ending the car crime menace said he would stop at nothing to put those responsible behind bars.
Detective Superintendent Martin Dunn warned he would continue to call on specialist resources to catch people who show no respect for the law.
And he said the force had already managed to recover most of the vehicles stolen from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
“Police Scotland has listened to communities across the north-east who have highlighted car crime as a key priority,” he said.
During a dedicated operation on Tuesday night in Aberdeen, police recovered five recently-stolen cars and a motorbike and arrested eight people, the youngest of whom was just 15.
Seven males, aged 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25 and 33, and an 18-year-old woman are due to appear in court.
The sting was part of Operation Ruby which was launched earlier this year after vehicles worth about £1.5million were stolen from the north-east.
DS Dunn said the force’s helicopter was called out after officers received a tip-off about the whereabouts of some of the stolen vehicles.
The chopper, which has a hi-tech spotlight, was airborne until the early hours of yesterday morning.
“To implement the operation we requested specialist resources from Roads Policing, Air Support, the Criminal Investigation Department, the dogs unit and local policing teams,” he said.
“The use of the force helicopter and other specialist resources allowed officers to target key areas and the operation was brought to a successful conclusion.
“The helicopter was active and involved in the arrests. It was doing roving patrol as required and when officers saw the stolen vehicles, the helicopter came to assist.”
But DS Dunn added that the public can still play their part in clamping down on car thefts.
“I want to reassure the public that we will continue to target car crime and will deploy specialist resources where appropriate,” he said. “However, I also want to appeal to people to ensure that vehicles and properties are kept secure in order to deter opportunistic thieves.”
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