Two individuals from Essex have been arrested for illegally dumping waste at six locations across Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Buckinghamshire, the Environment Agency has announced today (Friday 6 January).
In a joint raid earlier this week (Thursday 5 February), Environment Agency officers worked with the Eastern Regional Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) to arrest a 54 year old male and a 50 year old female, both of whom are from Essex.
After being interviewed, the suspects have been released pending further investigation and evidence gathered during the arrests will support action going forward.
This action forms a vital part of a large-scale, active investigation into waste crime, fraud, and money laundering by the Environment Agency. This investigation has previously seen the arrest of seven people across England, which includes two arrests in Manchester last month.
Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager at the Environment Agency, said
Waste crime is completely unacceptable, and we are clear that those responsible will be pursued.
Acting with the Eastern Regional Special Operations Unit, we have worked tirelessly to secure two more arrests in this complex investigation and to help bring an end to disgraceful criminal activity.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said
With five waste crime arrests in just seven days, we’ve shown that those responsible for these appalling crimes will be tracked down and held to account.
This is just part of the action we’re taking to stamp out this type of criminality across the country including boosting funds to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers, introducing tougher checks and handing out tougher sentences for those who break the law.
In 2024, the Environment Agency launched a new Economic Crime Unit to boost its efforts to tackle money laundering and carry out financial investigations in the waste sector. These arrests mark another vital step in the unit’s work to ensure those working in waste management do the right thing and waste criminals are rooted out of the sector.
If a member of the public has any information that may assist with this investigation, they should call the Environment Agency’s 24-hour hotline on 0800 807060. They can also report it anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or the Crimestoppers website.