Building boom drives dump truck thefts

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Forget the luxury cars that cram Moscow's streets: Russian thieves are after dump trucks, cranes and asphalt pavers to feed a booming construction sector.

Thieves have removed 40 Russian-made Kamaz trucks and 13 cranes, cement-mixers and other pieces of heavy machinery from the capital's construction sites in the last three months, local media said on Wednesday.

"Just recently an asphalt-paver was carried away in broad daylight, right off the street," Igor Agapkin, head of the Moscow police's stolen-car investigation department, told the Izvestia newspaper.

A construction boom in Moscow and large cities across Russia is fuelling demand for construction equipment that cannot be met by domestic supply. Long-term projects make leasing expensive, and police said finding stolen items was "very rare."

"Theft of a crane, for example, is a difficult undertaking. They have to get past police posts, get to the 'chop-shop', completely change the vehicle's appearance, licence plates, repaint," said Agapkin.

"Professionals of the highest order are involved."

(Writing by Chris Baldwin, editing by Keith Weir)