This is Staffordshire --FOREIGN criminals suspected of shoplifting, fraud and metal thefts are being targeted by police in a special operation.
Police officers from Romania, Lithuania and Poland have joined British motorway cops to take part in the operation to catch foreigners.
They are particularly targeting the M6 through Staffordshire to catch Eastern Europeans who use major roads to try to escape detection.
Operation Trivium has so far led to:
A Polish national being arrested on the M6 at Stafford after being wanted on a European Arrest Warrant since 2010 for a serious assault in Poland;
The capture of a 58-year-old illegal immigrant on the A500 after 16 years on the run.
Police are using technology – including automatic number plate recognition cameras which detect foreign vehicles – to stop motorists.
It is estimated there are between 15,000 and 30,000 foreign-registered vehicles on the UK's roads at any one time.
Officers from Romania, Lithuania and Poland are also carrying out real-time checks on their own national police systems to establish if the occupants are wanted by police in their home country.
The operation comes weeks after three Romanians were jailed for stealing £19,000 of signalling cable from the West Coast main railway line in Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Chief Superintendent Martin Evans, head of Central Motorway Police Group, said: "We are targeting criminals suspected of committing a range of offences – from serious organised crime to shoplifting. While some of the offences may not appear to be particularly serious they can be damaging when committed in high volume.
"We want to reassure the public that we are working with our European colleagues to tackle these gangs and use the best intelligence and skills we have to detect, prevent and convict those responsible for crime around the country."
A national study has found foreign nationals commit a variety of crimes, including shoplifting, fraud, metal thefts and car thefts. Other crimes have included burglaries, drug dealing and human trafficking for prostitution.
Chief Constable Suzette Davenport said: "Many of these criminals are organised and use the road network to travel from area to area in an attempt to avoid detection.
"Their activity has a damaging impact. We want to prevent the public from the misery they cause and build on the intelligence we already have.
"These criminal gangs must use our roads to carry out their illegal activity, so by targeting them in this way we are aiming to tackle the issue." Reported by This is 2 days ago.