£1.3 million of dangerous electric vehicles seized in operation across Suffolk and Hertfordshire
340 electric transport goods were detained or seized. All were assessed as dangerous and posing a serious risk to safety.
The multi-agency crackdown has stopped hundreds of dangerous electric motorcycles and other high-powered e-transport goods from entering the UK market.
Led by Suffolk Trading Standards’ Imports Team, and supported by Hertfordshire and Metropolitan Police, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and the Department for Transport, the agencies worked in partnership, sharing intelligence and resources to target goods imported through the Port of Felixstowe.
The operation sought to detect and detain unsafe and non-compliant electric off-road motorcycles and disrupt the importation of the illegal imports before they reached consumers. This action was carried out to prevent serious harm caused by fire, explosion, electric shock, as well as anti-social behaviour and criminality linked to these vehicles.
During the joint operation, suspect containers were held at the border and inspected by Officers from Suffolk Trading Standards and Hertfordshire Police.
Some of the goods were unlabelled, whilst some had labelling only in Chinese.
Many were supplied with non-UK plugs and chargers, with unsafe UK travel adaptors posing a fire risk. Some were CE/UKCA marked but much of the technical documentation supplied was fake.
Because of the various issues found, none of the goods were legal for the UK, on or off the road, and many were capable of reaching speeds in excess of 50mph.
The total retail value of seized or detained goods is estimated at £1,384,630.
In addition to removing unsafe goods from circulation, the operation uncovered incorrect and misleading import declarations and identified businesses linked to the illegal supply chain.