Nine held as police target phone-snatch gang in dawn raids

POLICE launched a series of dawn raids today on an organised crime group suspected of stealing phones across Westminster.

- John Dunne

Detectives arrested nine suspects as part of Operation Phone Snatcher, with more than 100 officers targeting eight addresses across north and east London this morning. The group is suspected of 180 thefts in Westminster over an eight-week period.

Territorial Support Group officers bashed in a door at a terraced house in the shadow of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and arrested two teenage suspects. They were handcuffed and put in a police van. A number of phones were seized at the address and bagged up for evidence.

Officers also carried out synchronised raids at at seven other addresses. Det Sgt Terry Moorton, who led the raid in Tottenham which the Standard attended, said: “These arrests are very significant as we believe this organised crime group is responsible for a high percentage of phone thefts in Westminster.”