Met Police recovers thousands of stolen goods

Police officers raided more than 120 shops across London

The Metropolitan Police has recovered thousands of stolen items in a crackdown on organised shoplifting gangs.

As part of what Scotland Yard described as its "largest ever operation to tackle shoplifting", officers raided more than 120 shops suspected of buying goods stolen from major retailers and reselling them at cheaper prices.

Nine shops were ordered to close and 32 people were arrested.

The police said the recovered goods, which included branded food, Lego sets, make-up and electrical devices, were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Supt Luke Baldock, who led the two-day operation, said: "We've made arrests, seized stolen goods and issued emergency closure orders.

"We will now need the support of the courts to secure longer closure orders and shut down these illicit shops for good."

Other seized items included own-brand Lidl products, such as honey, flour, rice and lemon curd, boxes of Nespresso coffee pods, Starbucks travel mugs and Waterstones umbrellas.

The 32 people were arrested for various offences, including handling stolen goods, drug offences and immigration violations.

Most of them have been bailed, Scotland Yard said.

'Build a safer London'

Among the shops targeted was a mobile phone store in Woolwich which had a secret room hidden behind a wall panel in the basement containing a "large number of mobiles and electronic devices", as well as another secret compartment containing gaming consoles worth an estimated £50,000, the Met said.

Seven people connected to the shop were arrested and about 2,000 phones believed to be stolen were seized.

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said: "This operation sends a message that if you shoplift or trade in stolen goods, you will be brought to justice.

"We'll continue working with the Met to tackle the crimes of most concern to Londoners as we build a safer London for everyone."