The investigation, led by the Met Police’s Flying Squad, linked the group to several burglaries across London between May and July
A gang of thieves known to have stolen more than £700,000 of goods during a crime spree had their latest heist foiled when they were caught plotting to burgle a South London jewellery shop by tunnelling in from a massage parlour nextdoor. Met Police body-worn footage captured the moment officers discovered the tunnel below a shower in the middle of the night.
Ioan Asafeti, 39, Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, both of no fixed address; and Sergiu Plastin, 42, of Portadown, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court on Friday (August 21) to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and cause criminal damage.
They were arrested by the Metropolitan Police after a wider investigation linked them to a series of burglaries worth more than £700,000.
Police raced to reports of a suspecte burglarly on Mitcham Road, Tooting, at 3.12am on Friday, July 17. Officers at the scene searched the massage parlour, where they uncovered the group’s plan to tunnel through a wall into the neighbouring jewellery shop and found bags of tools and equipment to dig the hole.
Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, was arrested in a nearby alleyway and officers then found Ioan Asafeti, 39, hiding on a rooftop and put him in handcuffs.
Sergiu Plastin, 42, was caught later that day as he tried to flee to Ireland via London Stansted. Police identified a car linked to the group and used mobile phone data to track him down.
The investigation, led by the Met Police’s Flying Squad, linked the group to several burglaries across London between May and July.
Detectives found the men mainly targeted jewellers “using tunnelling techniques to gain access to shops overnight while bypassing security systems”, the force said.
CCTV footage showing the men obtaining tools and other equipment used in the offences was recovered by officers.
And further enquiries through Interpol found the group had possible links to similar offences in Europe, the force said.
Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, of the Met Police’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% 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 three men will be sentenced on October 23 at Kingston Crown Court.
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