‘Mafia-style’ shoplifting network steals £73,000 worth of champagne from shelves | British News

A network of shoplifters has managed to steal at least £73,000 worth of champagne from British stores before smuggling it abroad.

The group wore Bluetooth headsets to communicate as they committed the “mafia-style” theft, which has further devastated already struggling British high streets.

However, the “adaptive” criminal group, which focused on stealing champagne to bring it to Romania at a time when there was a shortage of the drink in mainland Europe, is representative of a much larger problem in the UK.

The National Business Crime Solution said it tracked down 63 organized crime groups in the UK who stole goods worth £2.4 million in the last five years. 26 of them come from Great Britain and Ireland – the rest mainly from Eastern Europe.

Emmeline Taylor, professor of criminology at City St George’s University of London, told Metro the gang’s techniques were simple but effective.

She said: “Where they stand out is their level of coordination.” The use of headsets to easily communicate in store almost mirrors some of the techniques the stores themselves use.

“Criminals just adapt very quickly, and that’s what sets them apart because of their professionalism. They approach it as a business rather than just being opportunistic.”

The gangs managed to attack several stores in one day. Browns department store in East Yorkshire was attacked by a gang in March – and within 90 minutes they had another Browns location 30 miles away.

In 2023, research found a 27% increase in retail crime and a £2.8 billion loss due to customer theft – described as the “tip of the iceberg” by the British Independent Retailers’ Association (Bira).

The Center for Retail Research has found that shoplifting costs the average British household £133 a year.

Professor Taylor said recent years had produced a “bolder” and more organized form of crime.

“Organized groups have realized that shoplifting is a very high reward and appears to have very few consequences.” “Stores have all but given up reporting thefts, allowing criminals to move across the country and target multiple shops with relative impunity business,” she said.

“Some businesses are paying the price and having to close permanently because they can no longer operate safely or profitably.”

“Even larger chains are saying they will close because they fear they won’t be able to operate safely or profitably in some locations. This can be really damaging when it may be the only grocery store in a remote location and an entire community no longer has access to fresh food or medicine.”

Professor Taylor said in her analysis she estimates that less than 3% of shoplifting crimes are reported to the police. Of these, over half are closed without a suspect being identified.

“If you put those two figures together, it’s safe to say that theft has been decriminalized in the UK. “So for people in other countries or people in this country who are criminally minded, that’s a very attractive proposition.”

She added: “Organized criminals are very adaptable.” They evaluate the risk-reward ratio, so it is no surprise that they are targeting the UK retail sector as it is seen as a soft option.

“Why deal in drugs or firearms when you can actually walk into stores and steal tens of thousands of pounds of goods without registering with the criminal justice system for what you did?”

Although many of the suspects may not be caught and imprisoned, Professor Taylor expects facial recognition and automatic number plate recognition to be used more frequently to track down and prosecute perpetrators across the country.

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