Criminal gangs who have stolen more than £4 million from shops has been smashed.
More than 228 previously unknown offenders were identified after a new police unit was launched in May this year.
Of those, 93 have been arrested with 32 appearing in court and five being deported.
Among them were Laura Miron, 27, OvIliv Firan, 38, and Nicolae Boia, 30, who were responsible for £200,000 in goods being stolen from Tesco stores.
They were jailed in Guildford last month after their biggest heist – £4,500 in champagne.
The trio were also key players in an organised crime ring responsible for around 800 offences across the country.
The new Opal team has been mapping where gangs operate, using referrals from multiple police services.
Shoplifting reached a record high in October, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealing that 1,300 offences were recorded every day.
Across England and Wales, 469,788 offences were logged.
This is the highest level recorded since records began in March 2003.
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman for the National Police Chief’s Council said: ‘We know that organised criminality has a significant impact on retail crime with offenders targeting multiple force areas and multiple retailers in the hope of going under the radar.
‘Our centralised unit means we can build a detailed picture of offending across borders so there is quite literally nowhere for these individuals and groups to hide.
‘Our work can be as light touch as putting CCTV images through the police national database to identify an individual or as extensive as building a detailed intelligence package of offending across multiple areas and retailers but either way, it’s proving extremely effective.’
Police minister Dame Diana Johnson said: ‘These are promising initial results. Smart, data-led policing working with businesses will be vital to turn the tide on current unacceptable record levels of shop theft.
‘But we know we need to go much further. This is why we’ve committed £5 million over the next three years to continue this specialist work.
‘Retail crime blights our communities and high streets. We are determined to crack down on this crime through stronger laws and more neighbourhood policing on our streets.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
