City entangled in grip of disorganised crime
A SPIKE in car thefts across the region is not the symptom of a complex system of lawless masterminds – it is a disorganised crime manifest.
Cairns police have arrested 167 people over 777 property crimes since the beginning of July and the demographics of the offenders tells a story.
Cairns property crime squad Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Karamujic said 60-65 per cent of those arrested were juveniles under the age of 17.
Of the 35-40 per cent who were adults, Det Insp Karamujic said the vast majority were aged in their early-20s or younger. Organised criminal syndicates tend to target specific vehicle makes for maximum monetary gain.
Det Insp Karamujic said it was a different situation in Cairns with a small group of opportunistic young criminals taking anything that was not nailed down.
“We don’t have anything to suggest it’s organised. It’s more of a joy ride,” he said.
“They’ll target any vehicle they can get to. There’s no particular make or model that they will look for.”
They may not be exclusively going after luxury vehicles but earlier this week a new Mercedes A-Class hatch was stolen from a Cairns home, with a retail price tag of more than $40,000.
Fortunately for the owners, it was discovered abandoned but undamaged.
Police have charged two men suspected of stealing the car after intercepting them at Ingham.
“At times the offenders will crash the vehicles and we have the unfortunate job of notifying the victims and showing them their crashed cars,” Det Insp Karamujic said.
Police are eager to drum in the same well-trodden but important message — lock up your home and car, keep your keys by your bed and remove valuables from your vehicle.
Det Insp Karamujic said more than $100,000 of stolen property had been recovered so far this year.
“We’ve got a team that’s dedicated and hardworking and we’re achieving results,” he said.