This is the moment officers busted a shop allegedly selling stolen phones in the heart of south London.
The Metropolitan Police raid in Brixton – part of a two-week operation codenamed Zoridon and attended by Metro – saw a convoy of emergency vehicles snake its way through traffic before stopping near Electric Avenue.
An officer with an ‘enforcer’ – effectively a handheld battering ram – led the team to the door of a phone, electricians and watch shop suspected of handling and selling stolen goods.
But the enforcer wasn’t needed, as the officers piled in through the open door and began searching cabinets full of iPhones and other smartphones, using UV torches to inspect the devices.
Many newer tech releases have a coating that allows law enforcement to trace details of the handset and who it is registered to.
The painstaking search uncovered several devices believed to have been stolen, one of them years before.
Officers bagged up all the phones and handcuffed the three shop staff, arresting them on suspicion of handling stolen goods.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes told Metro: ‘These shops are undercutting legitimate businesses and the public are concerned about it.
‘We are using chemical DNA to show up property that has been stolen.’
The men were then questioned about their role in the business as the officers searched through hundreds of boxes containing phones.
A crowd gathered outside, with some who had left their phone for repair told by police that all stock was being held until checks were made.
One irate man begged: ‘Come on, bruv, I need my phone. It’s not stolen.’
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However, an officer explained the laws around seizing potentially stolen goods and said anything found not to have been part of a crime would be returned to the shop.
Deputy Commissioner Jukes said in a briefing prior to the raid that he had toured all of London’s boroughs, speaking to local people about how these crimes had made them feel unsafe in their communities.
He told the assembled officers and representatives of the retail industry that crimes like selling stolen property and shoplifting were high on the agenda at Scotland Yard and that they weren’t only targeting high street shops.
‘We are going to boot sales; we have seen premium goods, chocolates, cosmetics in boot sales.’