Thieves who were caught by Met officers attempting to tunnel their way into a jewellery shop in Tooting have pleaded guilty, after an investigation linked the organised crime group to a series of burglaries worth more than £700,000.

Body-worn video captures emergency response officers arriving within minutes of reports of a suspected burglary on Mitcham Road just after 3am on the 17th of July.

One suspect, Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, was arrested immediately in a nearby alleyway.

Following a search of the area, officers tracked down a second man, Ioan Asafeti, hiding on a rooftop.

Officers then searched a massage parlour the pair had broken into and uncover their plan to tunnel through a wall into the neighbouring jewellery shop. They also find bags of tools and equipment being used to dig the hole.

Officers arrested a third member of the group, Sergiu Plastin, later that day, as he tried to flee the country.

The investigation, led by the Met’s Flying Squad, linked the group to several burglaries across the capital between May and July. The men mainly targeted jewellers, using tunnelling techniques to gain access to shops overnight while bypassing security systems.

Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, of the Met’s Flying Squad, said:

“These criminals dug their own hole after emergency response officers caught them red-handed.

“Their arrests didn’t just stop this burglary. They formed part of a wider Flying Squad investigation that uncovered an organised crime group linked to a string of jewellery shop break-ins across London worth more than £700,000.

“We’re driving down commercial burglary across the capital, with offences falling by 12 per cent in the past year.

“Our message to these criminals is clear: target London businesses and we’ll hunt you down and put you before the courts.”

The men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and cause criminal damage at Kingston Crown Court this morning.

Ioan Asafeti, 39, of no fixed address
Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, of no fixed address
Sergiu Plastin, 42, of Craigavon

Following the arrests of Asafeti and Nitisoara, Flying Squad detectives identified a car linked to the group and used mobile phone data to track down Plastin. Officers arrested Plastin at Stansted Airport as he tried to flee to Ireland.

Detectives gathered CCTV footage showing members of the group obtaining tools and other equipment used in the offences.

Further enquiries through Interpol revealed the group had possible links to similar offences in Europe.

They will be sentenced on Friday, the 23rd of October at Kingston Crown Court.