Police arrest 25 and seize 100k of nicked goods in burglary raids (From Your Local Guardian)

Police arrest 25 and seize 100k of nicked goods in burglary raids

6:30am Thursday 15th January 2009

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Police have arrested 25 suspects for residential burglary and seized £100,000 worth of property as part of Operation Spotlight.

Eight people have been charged, two have been cautioned and 15 are on bail to return to the police.

Operation Spotlight has been running in Croydon since December 8.

Approximately 50 search warrants have been executed and £100,000 worth of property seized.

Recovered items include over 60 mobile phones, games consoles, laptops and computer games and jewellery such as watches and necklaces.

Over the weekend, two properties were broken into in Thornton Heath and the cars stolen.

The burglars struck on the night of Saturday, January 10. Police think that the suspects fed a tool through the letterboxes to open the doors and steal the car keys and cars.

A Peugeot and Volkswagen were stolen from a house in Whitehall Road and a Nissan Micra was taken from outside an address in Fairlands Avenue, which was later recovered by police.

Other offences include suspects gaining entry to homes via conservatories, at the rear of properties and using gardens and alleyways as access points.

Detective Inspector Tim Evans, Croydon Police’s Priority Crime Unit, said: “We want to remind members of the public of the need to ensure that their homes are secure. Front doors, windows and conservatories should be securely locked and have sturdy frames.”

He added: “We recommend that members of the public property mark their possessions and register them on immobilise.com.

“Registering items and uploading photos on the immobilise website increases the chances of being reunited with them should they be lost or stolen and come to the notice of the police.”

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