Far North police have charged 250 people with 448 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences since 27 February, as part of Operation Yankee Forge.
Police arrested five teenage boys following the theft of a Mazda CX-5 from a Springfield Crescent address on 19 June.
It will be alleged the boys were in the vehicle when it was subject to a tyre deflation device in Bungalow in the early morning of on 20 June.
The group fled on foot but were quickly located at an Earlville retirement village by PD Duke and his handler.
The boys aged between 15 and 17 were charged with a total of 19 charges which include unlawful use of motor vehicle, trespass, enter premise and commit, enter dwelling and commit, dangerous operation, driving motor vehicle without a driver's licence.
Detective Acting Inspector Matt Hogan said police remain motivated and committed to disrupting stolen vehicles and investigating break and enters.
"As members of the Cairns community ourselves, local police understand the frustration for people in our community when their car is stolen, their home is broken into, and their sense of safety is challenged," Detective Acting Inspector Matt Hogan said.
"Our role as police is to detect, deter and disrupt these offences by apprehending those responsible and put them in front of a magistrate, and we will continue to do that to reduce the number of stolen vehicles in our region."
Since Operation Yankee Forge launched, 544 people have been charged with 1339 offences, including robbery, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawful entry.
Of those charged, 268 were young people and 278 were adults.
Operation Yankee Forge is a six-month, district-led, statewide initiative targeting high-harm and high-volume offences, including unlawful use of motor vehicles, unlawful entry and robbery.
The operation will enhance policing activities across Queensland to reduce victim numbers and strengthen community safety.
Police regions, supported by specialist squads, will undertake coordinated disruption activities across the state. Police will target high-harm offenders and work closely with partner agencies to ensure offenders are held accountable. With a strong focus on crime prevention, police will be highly visible as they prevent, disrupt and investigate offending, with particular emphasis on unlawful use, robbery and unlawful entry.
The operation will be locally led and centrally coordinated, leveraging the knowledge and experience of officers who know their communities best.
Conditions of Use for Queensland Police Service (QPS) Operational Footage
The operational footage provided by Queensland Police, including but not limited to body-worn camera, dash cam, and POLAIR vision, is the intellectual property of QPS. This material is supplied to media outlets under the following conditions:
The QPS logo and any associated branding must remain intact and visible on all footage. Cropping, altering, or removing the QPS logo or branding in any form is strictly prohibited without prior written permission from QPS. Footage is provided for the sole purpose of lawful reporting and public information. Any unauthorised use, modification, or redistribution of the material is not permitted.
Any breach of these conditions, including unauthorised alteration or misuse of the footage, may result in legal action being taken by QPS to protect its intellectual property rights.
Continued non-compliance with these conditions may result in the implementation of additional protective measures, such as the placement of a centralised watermark on all QPS footage. By using this footage, you acknowledge and agree to abide by these conditions. For any queries or to seek permission for specific uses, please contact Police Media [email protected].
