The war in Ukraine is driving a wave of organised crime gang operations in rural parts of Britain, with stolen farm machinery being sent to eastern Europe for “lucrative rewards”, a police officer has warned.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago, police say a black market has opened up for equipment in the region, which has seen production plummet and sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Agricultural machinery producers John Deer and Lely also stopped sending goods to Russia shortly after the war began.
The shortage in supplies has led some gangs of criminals to target rural regions of the UK, such as Devon and Cornwall, which saw the cost of rural crime rise last year.
“We are are seeing organised criminals gangs come into our force area and they are targeting isolated geographic locations, stealing portable assets such as trailers, quad bikes and even tractors,” said PC Clarke Orchard, the head of Devon and Cornwall Police’s rural affairs team.
“Invariably that [stolen goods] will be shipped out to eastern Europe. We’ve got the unfortunate invasion of Ukraine and, with the sanctions imposed over there, there’s an obvious demand for machinery and I would suggest that theft may continue to rise.”
Rural crime cost farmers £44.1m last year, according to figures published by NFU Mutua
And although the cost of claims for agriculture vehicle theft fell by more than a third to £7m last year, the cost of tractor thefts rose 17 per cent to £1.5m. The cost of trailer thefts also increased, up 15 per cent to £1.3m.
Known as “portable assets”, PC Orchard said the theft of equipment such as quad bikes from isolated farms were low-risk offences for the gangs. The goods, he said, could be driven to ports while hidden in shipping containers.
“It [thefts] has such lucrative rewards that it’s palatable to organise criminal gangs,” said the police officer, who last week ran a rural crime operation with partnering agencies that partly focused on stolen machinery being trafficked up motorways.
But it’s not just in Devon and Cornwall where the link is being made between thefts and the war in Ukraine.
In February, Alex Brewer, Lib Dem MP for North East Hampshire, said “day in, day out” farmers in his rural constituency were facing theft, fly-tipping and hare coursing on their land.
He claimed there were 22 active organised crime gangs across the country targeting rural areas who had the ability to take stolen goods across international borders.
“Farming equipment is frequently traced to eastern Europe and Africa,” he told the debate on rural crime.
Hannah Binns, NFU Mutual’s rural affairs specialist, said progress had been made in tackling rural crime thanks to the close working of police, manufacturers, farmers and insurers in a National Rural Crime Unit.
But she said: “Rural crime goes beyond simply disrupting those who feed our nation, with farmers and their families living in fear of being targeted in their home and workspace.
“This is all the more concerning with the increasingly organised crime hitting the countryside in recent years, with criminal gangs scouting out the countryside and often hitting communities over a short period.”
Earlier this year, the Home Office announced a crack-down on rural crime, with a specialist team called the National Rural Crime Unit given a share of £800,000 to target crime groups going after farm equipment.
A spokesperson told The Independent: “We are also strengthening the law to tackle the theft and resale of high-value agricultural equipment, and introducing new powers to allow police to enter and search premises where stolen items have been electronically tracked by GPS.”
In Devon and Cornwall, the police and crime commissioner, Alison Hernandez, said she was aware of the concern over the link made between farm thefts and the war in Ukraine.
In response, officers in her region were using SmartWater on equipment, which is recognised internationally and means stolen machinery can be recovered and returned.
“I can reassure people that the National Crime Agency is working with regional organised crime units and local police forces to tackle the problem of farm machinery theft,” she said.
