Venkat Raman
Fourteen years ago, in our June 1, 2003 issue, we had reported that an Indian was given home detention in the Manukau Court for purchasing stolen goods.
Since then, we have had reports citing a number of others regularly ‘receiving stolen gold and studded jewellery, laptop computers, mobile telephone sets, electronic items and other goods.
A few names were also mentioned often as regular receivers.
Major Crime
Receiving is a major crime in New Zealand and the recent spate of robberies at retail stores has prompted New Zealand Police to launch a campaign targeting such people.
Called, ‘There is nothing good about stolen goods,’ the month-long campaign includes a reward to people whose information about receivers leads to successful prosecution.
While gold remains the top item in sale of stolen goods, cigarettes and liquor have also become goods in illegal trade.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said that the Campaign is a part of the Police response to the robberies occurring in many parts of the country, more so in South Auckland.
“New Zealand Police are deeply concerned about the rise in this violent crime due to its significant impact on small business owners and their workers and communities. Additional Police resources have been directed to focus on the increase in aggravated robberies that we have seen recently, with new taskforces dedicated to catching offenders, additional staff on patrol and supporting retailers to undertake preventive activities,” he said.
The Campaign includes a series of advertisements on social media and on the National and District Facebook pages encouraging people to call Crimestoppers if they have any information on stolen goods from aggravated robberies.
Crimestoppers
Crimestoppers, actively involved in the Campaign, is an organisation that accepts anonymous information and coordinates with the Police in its analysis and action.
Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800-555111; www.crimestoppers-nz.org
