Press release -
Met seizes dozens of illegal e-bikes in continued crackdown
The Met has seized 52 illegal e-bikes and mopeds during a two-day operation to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Neighbourhood officers and specialist teams in the West End and Harlesden used precise intelligence to set up stop sites in hotspot areas and deployed high-tech drones to catch offenders.
This focused activity builds on months of sustained operations targeting the dangerous and illegal use e-bikes and e-scooters as the Met continues to drive down neighbourhood crime.
Superintendent Luke Baldock, the Met’s lead officer for tackling e-bike and e-scooter crime, said:
“We understand Londoners’ concerns about how e-bikes and e-scooters are being used to commit offences, such as phone theft, burglary and other anti-social behaviour.
“That is why the Met is continuing to ramp up action and increase the roll-out of specialised operations across our neighbourhoods to tackle this type of crime.
“This focused activity builds on the success of previous operations which have seen thousands of illegal vehicles cleared from our streets and crushed.
“We are also working with stakeholders across the e-bike industry, public sector partners and listening directly to communities to ensure people can cycle and travel safely in London.”
On Friday, 27 February officers in north-west London set up a stop site in Tubbs Road in Harlesden, a high-footfall area. Fourteen mopeds and three vehicles were seized. During the operation, officers pursued a suspect who failed to stop at the site. He was later arrested and charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without a license and driving without insurance.
On Saturday, 28 February officers set up a stop site at Cambridge Circus in the West End to target riders. In just five hours, they seized 38 illegal e-bikes and three additional vehicles. Alongside the stop site, the Met’s ‘interceptor’ teams carried out tactical operations using live intelligence from CCTV operators and police drones. These officers carried out several pursuits to stop offenders.
During the two days of focused activity in Harlesden and the West End, police also made the following arrests:
- A man found in possession of a combat knife.
- A man wanted on recall to prison in connection with multiple aggravated burglaries and offences related to violence against women and girls.
This focused activity follows a series of operations which have led to a record 2,741 seizures of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters across the capital in 2025 and 2026. In hotspot areas such as Westminster, neighbourhood offences are already down by 28.4 per cent this full year to date.
As part of A New Met for London: Phase 2, the Met held ‘Community Crime-Fighting' events in every London borough, meeting more than 2,500 residents. Londoners repeatedly raised concerns about crime committed using e-bikes, which is why this continues to be a priority area for the Met. Through precision-led community policing, neighbourhood offences across London are down by 15.6 per cent.
Other examples of the types of operations and arrests to combat two-wheel enabled crime include:
- A week-long operation in Croydon Town Centre, Operation Veyvah, led to the seizure of 14 vehicles including illegal e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds and cars as well as three arrests.
- On Friday, 27 February neighbourhood officers in Lewisham conducted an operation targeting illegal e-bikes outside two food delivery kitchens. During the two-and-a-half-hour operation, officers seized 20 illegal powered two-wheelers.
- Operation Reckoning, which ran between 19 January and 16 February, was a period of intensified activity across London to tackle mobile phone theft – much of which is committed using powered two-wheelers. The operation resulted in 248 arrests.
- While on patrol, Waterloo and Southbank Neighbourhood Team officers stopped a man riding an illegally converted e-bike. He attempted to evade detention, during which officers sustained minor injuries. A search uncovered a police‑style baton, and he was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon, as well as offences relating to the illegal e-bike.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Photos and videos of the operation are available here: https://mps.box.com/s/0e8ei88fv4tu00fk3hjw0ki8wi337p61
Photo and video summaries:
- Manor Park Road pursuit: Dashcam and body worn video footage of a pursuit and arrest of the man who failed to stop at the stop site.
- Croydon operation: A photo of the e-bikes seized during Operation Veyvah, a weeklong operation to tackle illegal e-bikes in Croydon.
- Waterloo baton seizure: An image of the baton seized from the illegal e-bike user by officers in Waterloo.
- Parliament Square stop: Drone footage of officers stopping an e-bike user riding the bike along the pavement outside parliament.
- Knife recovered: An image of the knife recovered from an illegal e-bike user in Harlesden.
- Tubbs Road bikes recovered: Two photos of the e-bikes and mopeds seized at the Tubbs Road stop site in Harlesden.
- Cambridge Cirucs bikes recovered: One photo of e-bikes seized at the Cambridge Circus stop site.
- Cambridge Circus stop site: Drone photo of the stop site at Cambridge Circus.