Officers have made 15 arrests in a Met Police operation to disrupt an organised shoplifting gang operating across south-west London.

Eight shops were raided after they were suspected of buying items such as food and alcohol that had been stolen from major retailers and selling them on at lower prices.

After marking 5,000 items with synthetic DNA officers were able to identify and recover around £150,000 worth of stolen goods.

Sergeant James Burke, from the Met’s neighbourhood policing team in south-west London, said:

“Shoplifting pushes up prices for customers and often results in retail workers being verbally and physically abused. It also funds the drug trade and contributes to anti-social behaviour and violence.

“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.”

“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.”

On Wednesday, 9 April more than 100 officers from across the Met took part in targeted activity at eight off licences or newsagents in Merton and Wandsworth. They also searched a house in Cheam.

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

In a first for the Met, officers marked the most commonly stolen items, such as alcohol and chocolates, with SelectaDNA.

Each mark is unique and can be traced back to the original store which means officers can return to gather more evidence, such as CCTV and victim impact statements to help bring prosecutions.

Officers also found several own-brand items that had been made for particular supermarkets available for sale in the shops.

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 last Thursday and they have also been bailed.

As part of the operation officers also searched a barber’s shop in Tooting High Street and a residential property in Sandy Lane, Cheam.

Further enquiries are taking place and anyone with information about suspected offending is asked to call 101 and speak to the South West Basic Command Unit about Operation Zoridon.