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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the dumping of thousands of metric tons of waste in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the enormous pile of rubbish dumped near Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a recent report which exposed the operation of more than 500 unlawful tips throughout the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory authorities commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and money laundering offences and were a "key step" in active probes. Both men have been released on bail.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain about 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is composed of what looks to be sorted household refuse, fragmented plastic items, Styrofoam, automobile tires and various domestic items.

It is just one example of 517 unauthorized tips in England, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual amount of such major locations is likely to be greater, as the regulatory authority has earlier indicated it does not hold information on weight for each unauthorized dump.

Most sites are in countryside areas, typically concealed, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Organized Activity

Law enforcement report a significant number are managed by organized crime groups, who are earning money by demanding far less than licensed companies to receive and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the amount and category of material they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Frustration

Preparatory operations to remove the affected site commenced in recent weeks following worries over the potential of blaze and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial waste clearance company has been awarded the job to deal with the area over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the country's environmental crime team stated that the body would be aiming to claim back the clean-up costs under asset recovery acts from any individual ultimately convicted at the conclusion of its ongoing case.

She added that this week's apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and permit authorities to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine in detail what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized site at the site was an appalling and calculated attack on our environment and we empathize with the community's anger at this horrific offence," she stated.

A cabinet official praised the detentions, commenting: "This unauthorized deposit of garbage at this location is appalling and has resulted in significant harm to the ecology and distress to the surrounding population.

"Our authorities is pledged to stamping out this type of illegal activity throughout the nation, by increasing resources to address illegal dumping, hiring more officers and enacting more severe measures and penalties for those who violate the law."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by agents from a regional serious crime squad and come after an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was released pending further enquiries.