Farmers get robbed
Theft wave in England because of the Ukraine war
06/06/2023 11:29 am
More and more construction vehicles and agricultural machinery are being stolen in Great Britain. The police assume that they are being sold to Russia. Because of western sanctions, excavators are in short supply there.
The Russian invasion is wreaking havoc in Ukraine. The effects of the raid and the sanctions imposed by the West are being felt across Europe – even in the sleepiest parts of England. As “Politico” writes, the British police assume that farmers and construction sites will be hit by a wave of theft. As a result, organized criminal gangs steal complete machines or remove parts – and send the stolen goods in ever increasing quantities via Eastern Europe to Russia.
“It’s spreading like a pandemic. Nothing is safe no matter where you put it,” the magazine quoted a woman who runs a farm in Hertfordshire as saying. Theft of farm and construction machinery in England and Wales rose by more than 300 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to police. Excavators and high-quality GPS devices, which farmers can use to map their fields and plant more efficiently, are in demand.
Western manufacturers of agricultural machinery – including the US giant John Deere and the Dutch company Lely – had stopped deliveries to Russia and Belarus after the attack on Ukraine. At the beginning of the invasion, Russian soldiers looted a John Deere plant in Ukraine because sanctions are struggling for Russian farmers to get essential spare parts.
Larger agricultural equipment is shipped from the UK in lorries and containers. Smaller items such as GPS devices can be sent abroad by courier. Last month, British officials asked their Dutch counterparts to seize a lorry that was en route on a cross-Channel ferry with four stolen diggers and a horse box.