Victoria Police recovered four stolen vehicles and arrested 19 people during an operation last month, according to new details.
Victoria Police have released new details on an operation last month to tackle car theft in Melbourne’s west that arrested 19 people over four nights.
Between 11 and 14 February 2026 in Brimbank and Melton, Victoria Police claim to have checked over 860 cars, recovering four stolen vehicles as a result.
The west Melbourne local government areas (LGAs) of Brimbank and Melton respectively experienced the sixth and thirteenth highest average monthly car thefts in Melbourne over the first nine months of 2025. The LGA of Casey in Melbourne’s south east has the highest average monthly car thefts in the city area.
However, all these LGAs are also among the most populous in Melbourne, according to 2024 Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates.
Casey ranks first for population in Melbourne (405,415 people), with Melton at sixth (219,697 people) and Brimbank at eighth (198,152 people).
In a statement Victoria Police said the operation had benefits above just enforcement and deterrence: “There is also a large amount of information gleaned from these operations that assist in building intelligence around networked offending and those conducting criminal activity overnight, particularly in stolen cars.”
Dangerous driving was also a focus over the four nights, with police detailing a number of attempts by alleged offenders to evade officers during the operation.
Two alleged offenders in a Nissan Patrol bearing false plates were arrested following a pursuit that saw the pair attempt to flee by driving through farmland.
MORE: Victorian car theft bust recovers 21 stolen vehicles
The pursuit came to an end after the driver of the Patrol, which was laden with stolen copper and tools, attempted to set the vehicle on fire and flee through nearby paddocks on foot.
A man was also arrested after allegedly attempting to evade police at up to 200km/h on the Western Freeway using a Honda CBR600RR motorcycle with allegedly stolen registration plates.
And a woman was arrested after allegedly attempting to evade police in a stolen Toyota Corolla.
The four-night police operation is named ‘Operation Momentum’, and currently occurs in a similar manner every few months in Melton and Brimbank. The operation involves large numbers of police ‘saturating’ the areas during consecutive evenings, while the Victoria Police Air Wing provides assistance from above.
MORE: Police charge alleged ‘serial’ train station car theft bandit with over 60 offences
Similar operations run across other local government areas of Melbourne such as:
- Operation Trinity – Run across the South-East, Eastern and Northern suburbs of Melbourne.
- Operation Advance – Run across Manningham, Monash, Whitehorse and Boroondara areas.
- Operation Shows – Run in Wyndham, Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay areas.
- Operation Nighthawk – Run in the Hume area.
The Patrol, Corolla, and Honda vehicles account for three of the four stolen vehicles recovered as part of the operation. It is unclear what the fourth recovered stolen vehicle was.
Victoria’s latest monthly crime data showed car theft began to drop month on month between June and September of 2025, with crime statistics for the final months of 2025 to be released in late March.
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