Cars
Thousands of family cars are being stolen, crushed and sold for scrap by millionaire criminal gangs.
Motorists wake up to find their cars gone after being loaded on to trucks overnight. The stolen vehicles are then crushed into cubes before being shipped to China, where they are sold for £200 a ton of steel.
The thefts are being fuelled by the rising price of steel, which has doubled in 18 months as the Chinese build dozens of skyscrapers.
Gangs in west London, Hertfordshire and the Thames Valley have made millions of pounds, according to the police. Some are raking in £30,000 a month.
Police officers have raided 30 scrapyards as part of an operation designed to thwart the trade. Nine people were arrested for handling stolen goods and two stolen cars recovered.
I remember the days when you paid someone around £50 to take your car away. Now it seems because the steel in it is worth up to £200 another opportunity for thieves has arisen. I find this utterly outrageous that some people out there can be so unscrupulous to even think about such a crime yet alone implement it.
When are these poor families ever going to get a break?
Jackie Violet Female First .