Mass police 'chop shop' raids shine light on car theft and cloning scourge
Over 300 stolen vehicles were seized from chop shops as part of a sting operation conducted by 32 police forces
Hundreds of people have been arrested and even more cars seized in a week-long operation by police to tackle the activities of organised gangs, some of whom were running so-called ‘chop shops’ and fitting stolen cars with cloned number plates.
A coalition of 32 police forces, backed by the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), acted on 100 warrants, resulting in the arrest of 286 individuals and the seizure of 319 stolen vehicles, with a combined estimated value of over £2.6 million.
NPCC vehicle crime lead and assistant chief constable Sarah Grahame said: “The results of the third Operation Alliances demonstrate what can be achieved when police forces and our partners work together, sharing intelligence and targeting our resources where they can have the greatest impact.”
Despite the recent launches of several police taskforces dedicated to tackling vehicle theft, stolen cars remain a huge problem; in 2025, almost 55,000 were reported to the DVLA, although this was actually 11 per cent fewer than in 2024.
“Vehicle crime is not a low-level crime with minimal consequences,” Grahame continued. “It affects people and communities every day and, as the range of arrests during this operation demonstrates, is often linked to other serious offending.”
The NPCC said that the operation also led to many arrests for the possession of drugs and weapons, violence and attempts to dodge court by leaving the UK. However, 18 related to chop shops – illegal enterprises in which cars are stolen (usually to order) and then stripped for parts which are either shipped overseas or sold in the UK on the black market. In total, the police found more than 300 stolen parts that, in total, are worth in excess of £100,000.
Stolen cars fitted with cloned plates
Other seized equipment included cloned plates, which are effectively copies of another car’s registration often fitted to stolen vehicles in order to avoid detection from traffic cameras when engaging in illicit activities. This practice appears to be getting more common, with a freedom of information request by the RAC revealing that in 2025, a total of 11,402 drivers contacted the DVLA after receiving fines that they did not recognise. This constituted a nine per cent year-on-year increase and was almost double the total recorded in 2018.
“The continued rise in the number of cloned vehicles is alarming and confirms that cloning has become the menace of modern-day motoring, as it leaves innocent drivers having to fight to prove they weren’t driving their own vehicle at the time and place camera evidence shows,” said the RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams.
“If number plate suppliers were carrying out all the checks they’re supposed to, it would be much harder for dodgy drivers to buy cloned plates in the first place,” Williams continued.
A recent investigation by the BBC shone a light on this issue, with reporters able to purchase dodgy plates for £40 in just eight minutes at a market. In response, the DVLA said it was “cleaning up the register, strengthening compliance and enforcement” and working with the authorities to “tackle suppliers who break the rules”.
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