Truth about Britain’s shoplifting crisis laid bare as Romanian crime gang exposed

An occurrence of Channel 4's Dispatches, Britain's Shoplifting Gangs Exposed, airing connected Monday night, has exposed a Romanian transgression pack down a question of shoplifting offences successful the UK.

The country's complaint of shoplifting deed a 20-year precocious successful October according to the Office for National Statistics - and 1 trepadacious newsman plunged into the shady underworld down the situation successful the latest occurrence of the investigative existent affairs programme.

While undercover and done a bid of secretly-filmed interviews, Matt Shea managed to way down a Northampton-based pack person wanted by UK constabulary and face him astir his links to warehouses successful the UK stacked with boxes of stolen Sudocrem, Sensodyne toothpaste and Lemsip acold and flu tablets.

The pack is wanted by the authorities for a drawstring of thefts from Morrison's supermarkets totalling £120,000 - and were handing the goods implicit to a section wholesaler, who was besides tied up successful an amerciable visa matrimony scam.

Gang person Gugulan, who Matt was capable to find utilizing societal media, told him the products were being "sold successful England, to Indians". When pressed connected the specifics of the operation, helium burst out: "There are 1,000 Romanian thieves successful England. Why are you coming to my house? Everyone steals successful England and they merchantability it to the Indians. Why bash they not spell to the Indians to find the stolen goods?"

A wholesaler who met with Romanian undercover writer Victor, told him the goods were sold "across the globe", adding: "Middle East, Africa, Europe, wherever I get the buyer, boom, merchantability it."

The wholesaler, seemingly representing a institution called Prime Value Distribution, past revealed that they besides tally an amerciable visa programme, arranging marriages for Indian and Pakistani nationals who privation to enactment successful the UK.

They say, connected the hidden camera: "What happens is that aft 5 years, the idiosyncratic gets colony successful the UK due to the fact that my clients wage £250 each period to the idiosyncratic to enactment married. It's an arrangement, the authorities doesn't know."

The engagement of planetary transgression gangs successful seemingly innocuous precocious thoroughfare theft shows "a thriving achromatic marketplace for shoplifting groups successful the UK", according to Channel 4.

A spokesperson added: "Someone is bringing radical into the country, giving them lists of what to bargain and helping them administer goods done that achromatic market. These idiosyncratic incidents are conscionable the disposable portion of a co-ordinated onslaught connected the precocious street, by planetary criminals that spot the UK arsenic an casual target."

It comes aft a House of Lords committee recovered that theft from shops was "not being tackled properly" earlier this month.

A missive from the Justice and Home Affairs Committee to Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson suggested that the word shoplifting was outdated and trivialises the "serious organised nature" of modern-day retail theft.

The missive continued: “The standard of the occupation wrong England and Wales is wholly unacceptable and enactment is captious and urgent. The cognition of an inadequate effect to tackling store theft risks undermining assurance successful the constabulary and wider transgression justness system.”

Prime Value Distribution did not respond to a petition for commment by Channel 4.