A man will appear in court today charged by detectives investigating the coordinated theft of earth moving equipment, heavy vehicles and cars across south-west Sydney.
As part of ongoing proactive operations targeting coordinated vehicle theft, detectives from the Financial Crimes Squad's Motor Unit conducted a business compliance inspection at a location suspected to be an unlicensed motor vehicle dismantler at Rossmore on Tuesday 28 January 2020.
During the inspection, police identified nine stolen vehicles on the premises, which were subsequently recovered.
Strike Force Kyarra was established to investigate the theft of the vehicles and associated suspected illicit activities.
Following inquiries and acting on information from strike force detectives, officers from Australian Border Force (ABF) intercepted a shipping container after it arrived at Port Botany on Wednesday 29 July 2020.
The container was taken to the Sydney Container Examination Facility before being seized by police and confirmed to contain three stolen excavators.
Just after 9am on Thursday (13 August 2020), strike force detectives executed a search warrant at a business at Austral.
During the search, police located a Scania truck – which was in the process of being stripped – a Kubota
excavator, a low loader trailer, an engine belonging to a Volvo prime mover, a Yamaha jet ski with trailer, an Audi Q7, a Toyota Rav 4 and a Borcat trailer, all of which were confirmed stolen.
A 38-year-old man was arrested and charged with 37 offences. He remains before the courts.
As part of ongoing investigations, strike force detectives uncovered information relating to the coordinated theft of a Toyota Rav 4 from a home at Punchbowl between Thursday 7 May 2020 and Friday 8 May 2020.
Following further inquiries, detectives issued a 35-year-old Punchbowl man with a Court Attendance Notice (CAN) for publish false misleading material to obtain advantage on Saturday 16 January 2021.
He is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court today (Thursday 25 February 2021).
To date, Strike Force Kyarra detectives have seized or recovered 17 stolen motor vehicles and seven excavators, with a total value of more than $1.3 million.
Investigations are continuing.
Anyone with information about organised car theft and re-birthing is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence.
