12 organised crime gangs are behind 1 / 4 of all shoplifting
Just a dozen organised crime gangs are fuelling the epidemic of shoplifting across Britain, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
A joint operation between the police and 15 of the biggest retailers has established that a quarter of all shoplifting in England and Wales is being carried out by criminal gangs.
Some foreign offenders working for the gangs are flying in to steal and flee the same day on budget flights.
A taskforce, known as Project Pegasus, has sifted through thousands of hours of CCTV and bodycam footage, as well as testimonies from staff to create a ‘shoplifting map’.
After two months of analysis, including use of facial recognition software, the taskforce discovered that the crime wave is being turbo-charged by as few as 12 gangs.
Just a dozen organised crime gangs are behind a quarter of all shoplifting incidents in England and Wales, the Mail on Sunday can reveal (file photo)
At least 35 individuals have so far been flagged up as prolific shoplifters. The MoS has led calls for a crackdown with its End the Shoplifting Epidemic campaign.
We scored a major victory last week when the Government announced legislation to remove a loophole that thefts under the value of £200 were not being prosecuted.
Previously, the MoS has revealed plans to tag first-time shoplifting offenders and how Tesco was offering body cameras to staff after a rise in attacks.
A shoplifter empties shelves into a laundry bag at a Greggs in Deptford, east London
Trained male shop thieves attempt to leave the front door of a shop at The London Designer Outlet shopping centre next to the national football stadium in Wembley, north west London
Record levels of thefts are costing the economy £1.8billion per year. Since May, the six biggest supermarkets, as well as chains such as John Lewis and Boots have been feeding CCTV footage to Pegasus.
Dossiers are then sent to a group of detectives known as Operation Opal, who make co-ordinated arrests. Sources said gangs are also involved in slavery and drug dealing.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, who is the national lead on Pegasus, said: ‘A number of arrests have already been made and police forces are collaborating on targeting and disrupting identified groups.’
