Timber theft operation yields arrest

6 October 2016


A joint operation between Irish police and the country’s state forestry company Coillte looking into timber theft has resulted in an arrest.

Irish police said the operation took place on October 4 in the County Wicklow area. A man in his 40s was arrested in the Baltinglass area.

“For some time now Coillte in co-operation with the Gardaí in Wicklow and Wexford have been monitoring a number of a timber thefts in the area,” said Mick Power, national estate risk manager for Coillte.

“Camera systems and other surveillance systems have been placed in areas of high activity where valuable sawlog timber has been known to be stolen.

Most of the stolen material has been removed from Coillte standing sales but some may have come from private (farmer) sources as well.

“Timber as a commodity is in big demand whither it be from the sawmilling sector for sawn wood or from Firewood merchants as firewood.”