Massive haul of bikes and e-scooters seized in police crackdown on antisocial vehicles and ‘hidden power buttons’
The bikes had been linked to "drug running, burglary and theft" the Met confirmed to LBC.
Police have seized 34 e-bikes, scooters and mopeds in a matter of hours, as part of an operation to crackdown on vehicle-enabled crime in north-west London.
Listen to this article
LBC watched as a checkpoint was set up on Kilburn High Road last week, to stop riders and seize their wheels if they were being ridden illegally.
Some had been modified with a ‘hidden switch’ or password-enabled tool that can unlock speeds of up to 30mph - double the legal motorised limit for an electric bike.
The increased officer numbers around the checkpoint - including some in fast interceptor cars - also led to 10 arrests on the day for offences linked to immigration, drugs and weapons.
Read more: Killer who left victim’s body to decompose for weeks jailed for at least 19 years
Brent Inspector Yu Zhang, from the Metropolitan Police, told LBC: “We’ve had intel that shows some of these e-bikes and scooters are being used for drug running, burglary and theft.
“Every time I speak to the community and residents here, e-bikes are very much top of the agenda for what they want to see tackled and the antisocial behaviour linked to them.
“And it all feeds into the wider picture of criminality, not just here but further afield in areas like Westminster too, especially when it comes to phone theft.”
The operation was part of a week-long intensification by police in Brent to tackle criminality in known hotspots on the borough’s boundary.
The week led to the discovery of 1,161 suspected stolen phones in the back room of a shop, the recovery of three machetes and five knives, the seizure of 74 vehicles in total, and 45 arrests.
Within seconds of us arriving at the junction of Kilburn High Road with Brondesbury Road, in north-west London, we watched as a father and son were pulled over by officers for riding their e-scooters.
Theirs were the first of the haul of vehicles seized, as one of the team made clear that they can only legally be driven on private land, unless they’re part of an insured hire scheme.
As officers then pulled over several electric bikes at the stop site to test their motor power, PC Matthew Looker explained that legally, they’re not allowed to exceed 250 watts or a motorised speed of 15.5 miles per hour.
“We see a lot of converted bikes,” he said, “so they’ll add their own motor that they get off somewhere like eBay or a Chinese website.
“So, we'll test them here and check they don't have a hidden button that allows the bike to go from 250 watts to 750 watts at the flick of a switch.
“It's a growing problem because they're so easy to get a hold of and ride.”
YouTube videos, seen by LBC, openly explain how some common types of e-bikes can unlock greater speeds, which are illegal in public spaces in the UK.
One, posted by a bike shop in Kilburn, explained that a password can be entered to override the legal limit.
Officers have increasingly been raising concerns about the use of motorised bikes and scooters in criminality across the UK.
In London, some teams have now been kitted out with their own Sur-Ron e-bikes to pursue offenders, as they attempt to go off-road.
There was a bit of disagreement among some residents in Kilburn, though, as police seized the vehicles.
One man, who gave his name to LBC as Mr Herida, shouted “well done officers” as he walked past.
“It’s about time!” he told us. “The teenagers ride down here without a care.
“Just look at how crowded the pavement is. This is a relief.”
But with some of the stopped riders clearly out working for delivery firms, others claimed the police were going after “hard-working people”, as their immigration status was also checked.
At one point, a brawl broke out on the street as one teenager who tried to evade the stop site was tackled to the ground by officers.
Other teams, in police vans, chased after moped riders who tried to speed past the checkpoint.
During the operation, a number of knives were seized, including from two young men who’d been spotted going into a barber shop on Kilburn High Road with machetes.
And two other teenagers were stopped and searched after reports they’d been dealing drugs inside a coffee shop. A flick knife was also found in one of their pockets.
Inspector Yu Zhang told us: “The Met knows that two-wheeled crime is on the increase and we’ve seen offenders ramming police vehicles and officers.
“They’re putting members of the public at risk, often colliding with them.
“The public really supports us in enforcing this, so 100% we will keep doing it.”