A driver caught doing 95mph in wet conditions on the M6 while three times the drink-drive limit was just one of those arrested in a police blitz on foreign criminals using the region’s roads.
The Latvian man, aged 29, was stopped as part of Operation Trivium, a Europe-wide crackdown aimed at putting the brakes on criminals behind the wheel. He was charged and bailed to appear before a court later this month.
Also arrested in last week’s blitz was an Iranian national who was stopped on the M6 because he was driving erratically. The 23-year-old was twice over the drink-drive limit, but checks revealed he was wanted for two counts of harassment, and was also a failed asylum seeker. He has now been charged with drink-driving and is being transferred to immigration officials.
In all, 97 vehicles were stopped and eight people were arrested. A total of 42 vehicles were seized during last week’s operation.
Dozens of Central Motorway Police Group and traffic officers joined forces with the Motor Insurers Bureau, the Environment Agency, the National Crime Agency and the DVSA.
West Midlands officers temporarily embedded in Europe are able to run checks on continental computer systems to establish if people stopped in the UK are wanted for offences in their home country.
Insp Sion Hathaway, of the Central Motorway Police Group, said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve been able to have an impact on foreign criminals who are having an impact on local communities.
“This is about making life really difficult for people involved in crime to use the roads in and around the West Midlands.”
