Undercover police sting catches luxury watch thieves in central London

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THIS is the moment undercover cops wore luxury watches in an operation to catch ruthless gangs that targeted victims like Amir Khan.

Police officers roamed the streets of Soho at night posing as members of the public in an effort to run into gangs who target designer timepieces and catch them red-handed.

The operation in central London ran from October to December 2022 and March to October 2023.

Intelligence showed suspects targeting victims leaving pubs and nightclubs, most of whom were intoxicated and in a vulnerable state.

The suspects offered drugs/sex workers before taking them to quiet side streets to rob them, or approach them from behind before violently attacking them for their property.

Both operations resulted in 31 arrests and 27 successful charges, leading to 21 convictions to date.

Of this group of 21, 14 individuals have so far been sentenced to a total of 26 years overall, with other cases pending.

The Met Police released CCTV clips of four incidents during the two operations in Soho.

In one incident, the thieves approached a lone officer, tried to befriend them, before ripping their watch off their arm.

A hidden police back-up team then emerged to capture the crooks.

Commander Ben Russell said: "Many of these men have long offending histories and cause misery.

"In this scenario a police officer was approached by a man and asked if he wanted to visit a brothel.

"He was then taken on a walkaround through quiet side streets, during which time he was unknowingly being followed by four other men.

"When the time is right, the men then swarm the officer and rob him.

"Other police officers appear out of nowhere, tackling the criminals to the ground."

They successfully reduced the watch robbery rate across not just the borough of Westminster (which Soho is part of) but also the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham as well.

"Using data and intelligence, we identified the locations and times where these crimes were taking place and deployed undercover officers into the area, as part of our precision-based approach to fighting crime," Russell added.

"By targeting the people causing the most harm and the locations most frequently linked to crime, we are having a greater impact on keeping our communities safe.

"Undercover operations will always carry an element of personal danger and, while we risk assess all our operations thoroughly, all the officers involved demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination."
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