£150,000 of stolen goods recovered from eight London stores

Fifteen people have been arrested as part of a Met Police crackdown targeting an organised shoplifting gang operating across south-west London.

On 9 April, over 100 officers raided eight convenience stores in Merton and Wandsworth suspected of buying and reselling stolen food and alcohol items from major retailers at lower prices.

The operation followed months of planning to identify offending patterns by working with retailers and analysing crime reports, said the force.

After marking 5,000 commonly stolen items with synthetic DNA, officers were able to identify the stolen goods.

The unique forensic marking meant the force could trace the items back to the original store, allowing officers to gather more evidence such as CCTV footage and victim impact statements to support prosecutions, the Met said. 

Officers also found several supermarket own-brand items available for sale.

Ten men, aged between 23 and 64, and three women, aged between 39 and 45, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have since been bailed pending further enquiries.

A further two men, both aged 48, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods in separate activity on 17 April, and also bailed.

“The local officers in my neighbourhood team have put in months of hard work alongside impacted businesses to trial new tactics to drive down shoplifting in the area and have delivered impressive results here,” said Sergeant James Burke, from the Met’s neighbourhood policing team in south-west London.

“The Met is focussed on targeting those involved in co-ordinating this activity and by disrupting their operation we are confident we can reduce offending and the impact it has on communities across London.”