Trio arrested in Wiltshire connected to series of thefts from vans
Police recorded a spike in incidents from September last year
Wiltshire Police has revealed three people have been arrested and bailed in connection with a string of thefts from vans across the county.
Officers recorded a spike in offences from September last year where tools were being stolen from vehicles.
Incidents had been recorded in neighbouring counties too, including Hampshire, Dorset and Gloucester.
Inspector Caroline Ralph described the gangs as 'highly-skilled'.
"They were managing to break into these vans without setting off alarms, in and out within a couple of minutes and bringing cleaning products with them so that they were leaving very little forensic evidence," she said.
The gangs were also carrying weapons and balaclavas to assist them in their crimes.
The Inspector said: "We put in a lot of resources, a dedicated unit started looking at it on our local priority crime team and really pleased to say that last month we made 3 arrests.
"The three individuals were arrested for a number of offences. They were stopped in their vehicle late at night by our roads policing unit."
Inspector Ralph praised the work of all the officers involved in arresting the trio.
"We're really pleased with the outcome, it isn't lost on us the effect that it has on people who are trying to earn an honest living."