Police seize stolen goods in extensive raids

Police in the Greater Auckland Region seized a large collection of stolen goods last week following an extensive raid by officials from various Police Districts.

About 240 police officers and support staff were involved in Operation Castle, leading to 47 arrests over 44 search warrants.

The Police had identified 115 Second Hand License Holders as of interest.

There are 858 Second Hand License Holders in the region.

Assistant Commissioner Steve Shortland, District Commanders Superintendents George Fraser (Auckland City), Mike Bush (Counties Manukau), Bill Searle (Waitemata) and Ted Cox (Auckland Metro Crime) gave the mandate for the Operation.

Detective Inspector Greg Cramer, who was in charge of the Operation, said the police seized cash, jewellery, drugs, laptops, DVD players, mobile phones, camcorders, firearms, about $300,000 of high-end watches and a range of other items.

The investigation also netted cannabis head (18.6 kg) along with stolen machinery at an Ahuroa address in Rodney District.

“Operation Castle was designed to focus on the levels of compliance among secondhand dealers trading in stolen goods and jewellery, particularly gold, and to disrupt the trade of such goods by targeting known burglars,” Inspector Cramer said.

He said gold has been a favourite item among burglars in recent years, with the price of gold bullion doubling to US$ 1200 per ounce from US$ 600 in 2007.

“Such items are relatively small, portable and provide high return. The Greater Auckland region, from Bombay Hills to Wellsford recorded about 18,000 burglaries between July 2008 and June 30, 2009,” he said.

Inspector Cramer said Operation Castle entailed several months of planning and investigations to determine if the dealers were complying with the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbroker’s Act 2004 or not and found 94 breaches.

“We will be able to restrict the number of outlets that burglars can access to market their ill-gotten items by focusing on known offenders and secondhand dealers and the role they can sometimes play in providing a market for stolen goods,” he said.

He warned those breaching the provisions of the Act will be caught sooner than later and that it was important the industry maintained its image for honesty and integrity. Offenders will face prosecution, he said.

“We understand that some dealers are defying their statutory obligations by melting the purchased gold and selling it to gold bullion traders.

“Traders should always question why a customer has melted gold product to sell, particularly if there is a regular supply from that customer,” he said.

Individuals purchasing stolen goods were also breaching the Act and are liable for punishment.

Inspector Cramer said people can avoid becoming victims or accessories to such crime.

“They should store jewellery and other small valuable items safely and maintain a photographic record of valuables.

“People should be careful when approached by unknown persons selling valuable items and ascertain if they are the legitimate owners of those items. If the price of an item offered for sale is unusually low in price, it is possible that the item was stolen,” he said.

Photo: This Motorbike was one of the items seized during Operation Castle