Police have arrested two men and are taking restraint action after investigating illegal activities at two auto-dismantlers yards involving alleged stolen vehicles.

A 21-year-old from Upper Hutt and a 39-year-old from Christchurch were arrested as a result of simultaneous warrants executed on Thursday.

It was part of a joint initiative with tactical crime units, asset recovery units and Customs, police said in a statement.

The men face charges relating to receiving stolen vehicles and breaching the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2004.

“This is a shot across the bow of the second-hand industry,” acting Detective Senior Sergeant Sarah Graham says.

“If you break the law, we will track you down and work across districts and agencies to do it.”

In Canterbury, an investigation into a rise in car crime began in March and came to center on two auto-dissantlers yards: one in Christchurch and the other in Upper Hutt.

Police believe both yards were fueling vehicle thefts in their wider districts.

Police became suspicious after visiting the Christchurch auto-dismantler, finding breaches of the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act. Investigators alleged multiple stolen cars had been bought by the yard at grossly undervalued rates, and Operation Mane was born.

“Among the evidence Op Mane uncovered was that an Upper Hutt auto dismantler was operating under a similar business model. Wellington District Police, under the umbrella of the longer-running Op Drake, subsequently discovered stolen vehicles at the Upper Hutt business too,” Graham says.

“After half a year of work by police tactical crime units, asset recovery units and Customs New Zealand, we had sufficient evidence to execute simultaneous warrants.

“The investigations into this activity are very much ongoing and are the reason why police have restrained assets. With that work still under way, we’re unable to comment on the value, or types of assets that have been restrained.”

‘We’re coming for you’

In the capital, Operation Drake has been running for more than a year to combat the rising instances of vehicle thefts across the district, police say.

Wellington District Police have seen the number of unrecovered commercial vehicle thefts increase by 58% in the past five years, prompting the months-long operation.

Detective Inspector Haley Ryan says police strongly suspect the majority of the vehicles not being recovered are being dismantled and exported overseas.

“Stolen commercial vehicles have much more value to the receiver being dismantled and sold for parts versus them being rebirthed and sold.

“We would be very naive to believe that the businesses that are subject to today’s search warrants are the only car wrecking businesses to be involved in such illegal activities.

“New Zealand Police and Customs will continue to work in partnership and investigate and prosecute those businesses; we’re not just working in our own backyard, we will go wherever the evidence takes us.

“Our message to those involved in these activities is ‘we’re coming for you’,” Ryan says.

Work continues

Meanwhile, Graham says police won’t rule out further arrests as the investigation teams comb through the evidence gathered so far.

“This is the second auto-dismantler to be prosecuted in Christchurch in the last year in relation to similar offending. Car theft has serious effects on people’s lives, and we don’t need anyone feeding that fire.

“Police regularly monitor compliance of secondhand dealers and the majority comply with the law and work closely with us.

“Unfortunately, there are people out there willing to benefit from crime, but today’s work shows the commitment of police and our partner agencies to stopping those entities and individuals,” Graham says.