A stash of burgled items, including a dental air compressor stolen from Vaiola Hospital, was recovered after raids on 10 locations by a special investigative team, that was set up by the police to crack down on an epidemic of housebreakings and theft that has plagued the capital, Nuku'alofa, for a long time.

The arrests of 15 people this week have coincided with a 50 per cent decrease in the number of burglaries and thefts reported to the police during the week.

The Acting Police Commissioner, Taniela Faletau said this morning that over the past two weeks, the police had arrested and charged the 15 offenders with housebreaking and theft, including 12 males and three females.

A 37-year-old man from Mataika in Tongatapu, who was arrested and charged in relation to the theft of the air compressor from the Dental Unit at the Vaiola Hospital, would appear in court soon. The air compressor had been returned to the hospital, he said.

Offenders would start appearing in the Magistrate's Court in Nuku'alofa this week.

The investigation team had executed search warrants at 10 different locations in the Nuku'alofa area and recovered numerous quantities of the burgled items, including valuable Tongan tapa and mats, as well as laptop computers, mobile phones, iPods, and 700 t-shirts. The team reported that they had recovered a total of $40,000 worth of stolen property.

Receiving stolen goods

At the same time police are cracking down on people who receive stolen items, and the Acting Police Commissioner said they had charged three offenders with receiving stolen goods.

"People should be aware that receiving, abetting and harboring stolen items is a crime, and we know there is a market in Tonga for stolen goods and the investigation team is onto it as their operation continues," he said.

Call 922

Meanwhile the crimes statistics from April 16-22 showed a decrease in the number of housebreakings and theft by 50 percent.

He said the operation had clearly contributed to the decrease that saw 14 housebreakings reported last week, a drop from 29 in the previous week. Theft also dropped to 15 incidents last week in comparison to 30 reported in the previous week.

Taniela said their investigation revealed that some of these offenders had either paired up as partners, or joined a group to commit these crimes, and most cases occured within the Nuku'alofa area.

He said all information is important and valuable to their investigation, and a toll free number 922 is open to the public to call in.

"Tonga Police wish to thank members of the community for their assistance in providing information, which has helped investigations and we request that the community continues the good work of providing police with information," he said.