Rodney Police have uncovered thousands of dollars worth of stolen property at a Dairy Flat address, in what's thought to possibly be the largest recovery of stolen goods in the Waitemata Police district.
On Wednesday, a search warrant was carried out at the rural property on the Dairy Flat Highway, after Police enquiries established that stolen goods were suspected to be on the premises.
There were 12 shipping containers, 2 horse floats and a number of outsheds, full of what's believed to be stolen property, including;
-Large quantities of high-end power tools including generators, jack hammers, skillsaws, drills, water blasters and building tools.
-Scaffolding
-Dishwashers, ovens, vanity units, door hardware, hot water cylinders, fridge freezers.
-Concreting equipment including cutters and compactors.
-Motorcycles / quad bikes.
-Dozens of bags of cement.
-Large quantities of fireworks.
Officers also found;
-A 30 000 litre water tank (pictures attached) that had been stolen in rural Waitoki and was hooked up to the house and half full of water.
-A boat on a trailer (stolen from Huntly)
-Six trailers
Police have spent the last 3 days at the address examining the haul.
The Rodney area has experienced an increase in construction site and rural burglaries in recent months, and Police believe the huge quantity of property at the address will be linked to dozens of burglaries in both the Rodney area, but also the upper North Island.
"The task of identifying who the property belongs to is going to be a very big job and we anticipate that this news will result in members of the public wanting to call us to check if it's items they've had stolen" says Senior Sgt Andy King, Rodney Police.
"At this stage we're in the process of removing all the property into Police storage and then we'll be able to start work on identifying the rightful owners. Each item has to be checked, the serial numbers and description recorded and enquiries carried out around ownership. Next week we'll provide details of a contact number that people can call, but at this stage we'd ask members of the public to bear with us while we get that process underway.
At this stage a 43 year-old man has been charged with receiving stolen property, but the investigation is ongoing and Police anticipate further lines of enquiry as the enquiry continues.
"We've put a great deal of resource into targeting the construction site and rural burglaries and we hope that this find will give some relief to the many people who have been victims of those crimes. We're committed towards finding the people responsible for this and I'm pleased to say that this development will take us quite some way in our search for the offenders" says Snr Sgt King.
A contact number for anyone wanting to claim or enquire about the recovered property will be released publicly next week.
ENDS
Beth Bates/Waitemata Police
Three short videos showing the removal of the water tank and general shots of the goods are available. Snr Sgt Andy King is also available for interview.
