The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL kvirgil@tribunemedia.net THOUSANDS of dollars in stolen merchandise are in police custody after officers foiled various house break-in rings in a number of communities, the latest, yesterday morning. Southwestern Division superintendent Wayne Miller confirmed during a press conference at the Carmichael Road Police Station that a large number of "fenced" goods were seized during the operations. He said: "Officers conducted an operation which recovered a number of laptops, expensive jewellery, flat screen televisions, DVDs, and a shotgun was seized in that operation." The items, he said, will be held at the station for a week before they are taken to the exhibit room. Anyone whose items might have been stolen are urged to bring identification, receipts, invoices, or serial numbers, to verify ownership. Other police seizures, he said, yielded stolen cars as well as vehicles involved in armed robberies. Police can also confirm a connection between yesterday's crackdown and other instances on the island. "This ring, officers were able to connect their activities to a number of house break-ins in the east and in the western area where persons were able to positively identify items." In retrieving the items, Mr Miller said police were also able to follow substantial leads from persons taken into custody. "We have in custody a number of persons who are assisting us in our investigations and these persons would have taken us to a number of residences where they would have fenced these items." He added that all of the persons are in their 20s, including one woman. According to Mr Miller, house break-ins continue to spiral because of a willingness of persons to receive stolen items. "We have a number of cases where people just on face value could look at the individual presenting the item and clearly know that this item must have been gotten from some illegal means. We will continue to target the receivership market. "The proliferation of crime continues because there are too many people willing to receive." Police, said Mr Miller, want those who receive stolen goods to know they could face hefty penalties. "The receiver is just as bad as the thief and it is up to the magistrate to sentence persons, but we've seen them sentenced for hefty times," said Mr Miller. Mr Miller said investigators have noticed a trend among homes that have been broken into. Thieves tend to operate, in most cases, between 7am and 3pm on homes that are not secured, have no bars to the windows, front or back doors and no alarm system. He offered advice to home owners that will help safeguard them. "We are telling the public to buy an alarm, harden your target. "Thieves will target homes that are unsecured, the longer they have to stay on the scene to get into your house they probably won't bother."