Uninsured drivers see their cars crushed under Operation Cubo

A Metropolitan Police campaign to clamp down on uninsured drivers has been such a success that it could soon be rolled out elsewhere.

Operation Cubo is a targeted project of Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe.  And it’s been a major hit, with more than 14,000 cars seized since Cubo launched in October 2011. In tandem with the daily Operation Reclaim activity, more than 35,000 motors were seized in the last year alone.

Now other forces across England are now showing an interest in the lessons learned and techniques employed, with three constabularies keen on implementing their own versions of Cubo, with assistance from the Met.

Once a month, teams of officers target specific sites across the capital on Operation Cubo.

• Cheapest cars to insure

Locations and dates are kept top-secret until the last minute, in a bid to outwit the serial offenders who hear speculation on the grapevine as to what might be happening, and where.

Officers use a mixture of intelligence, ANPR and instinct to try to sniff out suspicious drivers. Hundreds of cars are stopped at each site, and a Cubo day contributes 600 of the 4,000 vehicles seized a month.

Seized vehicles are taken to the pound, and if unclaimed face three potential outcomes – crushing, broken for parts or bring sold at auction, depending on the their value.

Revenue raised goes straight back to the police, and the figures involved are significant. According to a spokesman for the Met: “We have generated a surplus through the crackdown on uninsured vehicles of £5.5million, which has been directed to front line policing between October 2011 and November 2013.”

Among the vehicles seized in recent months are Range Rovers, Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis.

For a full report on Operation Cubo and the clampdown on uninsured and unlicensed drivers, buy the latest issue of Auto Express.