Police respond to a car-jacking in Oldham and find a 'chop shop'

Police are investigating

An investigation’s underway after a car-jacking in Oldham. 
 
At around 11:44am today (Wednesday 4 December 2019), police were called to reports of a car-jacking on Langham Road. 
 
The victim reported that he’d been involved in a low-speed collision and, after leaving his vehicle, his Audi had been stolen. 
 
No one was injured in the incident.
 
Within the hour, officers from GMP’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit located the car in what they believe is a chop-shop. This is a term used to descirbe a work shop, where cars are worked on, so they're unidentifiable. 
 
They also discovered what they believe are parts from other stolen vehicles. 
 
A 24-year-old man from Oldham has been arrested on suspicion of robbery. 
 
Inspector Chris Hadfield, of GMP’s Specialist Operations Team, said: “This is a fantastic result and clearly shows our commitment at tackling crimes that relate to Operation Dynamo”. 

Operation Dynamo is a force wide scheme which aims to crackdown on offenders who are actively stealing cars in burglaries and robberies to be sold on or used to commit violent crimes. 

GMP launched the initiative after vehicle thefts increased across Greater Manchester since 2012, with more than 10,000 vehicles stolen in 2017. 

Teams from across the force work together to deter, disrupt and ultimately dismantle organised crime groups with GMP’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit (TVIU) using both covert and marked cars, as well as ANPR technology, to catch burglars and robbers in the stolen cars. 

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