Arrests after police seize machinery at port

Three men have been arrested after police seized plant machinery and farm vehicles worth £200,000.

Kent Police said that on 26 February it detained drivers at the Port of Dover after "suspicion was aroused" they were attempting to leave the country with stolen machinery.

It said a wood chipper was recovered, along with an excavator and trailer, diagnostic equipment and a tool to change vehicle identification numbers (VIN).

Two men, aged 43 and 44, were arrested in connection with handling stolen goods and going equipped and have since been bailed.

The force said that the following day a lorry was stopped at the port after it was suspected that the Volvo G930 grader it was towing had been stolen.

The grader was worth around £150,000, officers estimated.

A suspected stolen John Deere baler was also seized.

Kent Police said it arrested a 31-year-old man over handling stolen goods, plus two driving offences.

He has also been bailed.

Kent Police, which worked with officers at the Port of Dover and National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team, said enquiries are continuing.

Police Sergeant Ross Haybourne said the force had disrupted organised criminal activity and safeguarded farmers, businesses, and livelihoods.

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