admin
Crime Reporter
International Police and the Zimbabwe Republic Police last week conducted an operation code-named “Usalamu” targeting stolen vehicles.
The operation is being conducted in other Interpol member countries and no local statistics have been released.Police sources said they were targeting Isuzu trucks and Toyota Fortuner SUVs, which are being smuggled in and out of the country.
Police mounted roadblocks in and around Harare, with officers from Interpol, the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority and ZRP on the ground.
Nearly 7,2 million cars were reported stolen in 127 countries worldwide in 2013.
Most of the vehicles were lost through car jacking while others were stolen from parking lots.
“Interpol’s Stolen Motor Vehicles database contains more than 7,2 million records submitted by 127 member countries. There has been a large increase in the use of the SMV database in recent years — from three million searches in 2007 to more than 100 million searches this year,” Interpol said.
In 2005, 3 296 263 vehicles were stolen, in 2012 there were 7 250 909, 7 097 877 in 2011 and in 2010 there were 7 156 792 reports. Last year the figure was 7 288 741.
Interpol also said, “Vehicle crime is a highly organised criminal activity affecting all regions of the whole world and with clear links to organised crime and terrorism.”
Interpol is the world’s largest international police organisation, with 190 members. Its role is to enable police around the world to work together.
All member countries are connected through a secure communications system known as I-24/ 7.
This gives police real-time access to criminal databases containing millions of records globally.
Interpol’s unique system of notices is used to alert member countries to fugitives, dangerous criminals, missing persons and weapons threats.
Online Reporter