Police officers have made 15 arrests in a large-scale Met police operation targeting an organised shoplifting gang in south-west London.

As part of the operation, eight shops were raided in Merton and Wandsworth, while a house in Cheam and a barber shop on Tooting High street were also searched. The shops are suspected of buying items, including food and alcohol, that had been stolen from major retailers, and selling them on at lower prices.

The operation led to the recovery of approximately £150,000 worth of stolen goods. Officers had marked 5,000 items with synthetic DNA, allowing them to trace the stolen goods back to their original stores.

Each mark is unique, enabling police to gather further evidence, including CCTV footage and victim impact statements. Several own-brand items, manufactured for specific supermarkets, were also found for sale in the shops.

SGF reveals ‘devastating’ retail crime impact costing avg. local shop £19,673 per year

The operation followed months of planning, which involved identifying offending patterns, collaborating with retailers, and analysing crime reports.

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 arrests involved 13 individuals—10 men and 3 women—ranging from 23 to 64 years old. A further two arrests were made later. All individuals have been bailed pending further enquiries.

Fake shops threaten retailers and the high street

The operation highlights a wider trend, with fake shops linked to organised crime posing a growing threat to UK high streets, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has warned.

The organisation welcomed a BBC investigation into the rise of fake retailers on UK high streets, highlighting their connection to serious criminal activity, including modern slavery, human trafficking, money laundering, and the sale and supply of illegal weapons, drugs, vapes and tobacco.

CTSI said such shops not only endanger consumers but also harm legitimate businesses, damaging local communities and weakening the economy.

These counterfeit shops often stand out due to unusually low prices or the type and quantity of stock they offer, which may appear “too good to be true” or unviable under normal trading conditions.

Jessica Merryfield, head of policy and campaigns at CTSI and a chartered Trading Standards practitioner, said the presence of organised crime groups had been identified by members as the “biggest threat to consumer businesses”.

She said: “Due to their local knowledge and connections, Trading Standards can often use their unique legal powers of entry to help gain access to premises when carrying out multi-agency activity, such as investigating and uncovering fake shops and the illegal activities carried on at those premises.

“It is important that the government put consumer protection at the heart of their plans for economic growth by making effective laws for Trading Standards and other agencies to use in tackling the issues that stunt that growth and undermine consumer confidence, such as the rise of fake shops.”

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