MORE THAN NINETY people have been arrested by police in Northern Ireland as part of a crackdown on the high number of carjackings in recent weeks.
The arrests have taken place over the past six weeks as part of a special taskforce called Operation Ruscio set up by the PSNI to deal with the spate of carjackings. At the height of the carjackings, more than ten cars were hijacked across Belfast in less than two weeks.
Eighteen people have been arrested for hijacking or attempted hijacking, while nine people have arrested for theft. Other arrests have been for crimes including robbery, burglary, possession of drugs and criminal damage.
The PSNI has between 45 and 60 extra police officers on the ground on any given day to deal with carjackings, Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum said.
“Not only is their presence providing a visible reassurance but they were proactively challenging a wide range of criminal behaviour, as ultimately those involved in car crime do not focus their offending on one particular crime type,” he said.
McCrume said the fact that officers have made over 90 arrests was a clear indication of the progress that has been made.
“The spike in the number of incidents which was experienced during January has diminished with five hijacking incidents and two attempted hijacking incidents recorded during the month of February,” he said, adding that the reduction was clearly linked to the work of police on the ground.
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