DC Nathan Ricketts
DC Nathan Rickettsβ job is to make sure stolen cars are not passing through the port.
Thousands of cars are exported from the Port of Southampton every week.
Itβs good to get the cars out of the criminalsβ hands and back to the people who own themDC Nathan Ricketts
It is DC Nathan Rickettsβ job to make sure none of them have been stolen.
Any carsΒ he and the team find are sent back for forensic investigations.
He has only been on the job for a few months but has already developed a well trained eye for dodgy cars.
βI wasnβt expecting to do this job at all but I thoroughly love it. Itβs really, really good,β says Nathan.
βItβs very rewarding to get peopleβs cars back like this.β
Sea City follows Nathan at work as he finds a container that has aroused his suspicions
Inside the container he finds stolen cars which have been ingeniously squeezed in tightly behind tyres.
Some of the high value cars have been stolen from London following burglaries.
"It does cause a bit of a problem for us to get them down safely," said DC Ricketts.
The task of getting the cars out without damaging them will be a tricky job for Nathan and his team, not least because they are so tightly packed and weighΒ a couple of tons.
One of the cars - a Toyota Avensis - is resting on the rear window of a BMW X6.
His team have to tease the Avensis out of the container, where Nathan finds more evidence that it is a stolen car with the wrong number plates.
A third car is stuffed behind a carpet.
As the cars are unloaded, Nathan is able to check whoΒ the rightful owners are.
Nathanβs plan is to allow the container to continue to its destination in Africa.
The first thing the criminals will know about the seizure will be when they open the box up and find nothing but old tyres.
"Itβs good to get the cars out of the criminalsβ hands and back to the people who own them," concludes Nathan.
Clips
Tackling car smugglers
Thieves smuggling stolen cars get more than they bargained for.
