a gang of Master Intruders were on the Rampage targeting elderly residents stealing their belongings and sparking fear in the community forensically aware this organized crime Network believed they were too skilled to be caught this is how we solved it over a four day period in June 2021 an estimated 200 000 pounds worth of property was stolen by a network of burglars victims were threatened and attacked with knives sledgehammers and garden tools before having both valuable and sentimental items stolen this spree of Island burglaries cause ripples of fear within the community victims felt targeted through their vulnerability and the ruthlessness of the perpetrators was extremely intimidating we knew we had to take action and produce results to reassure the community we mobilized the Mets flying Squad along with local and cross-border support together we worked in unison to identify and capture our targets we discovered that our offenders were part of a moving encampment committing offense is on a larger scale than we initially thought we mapped out their activity and were able to predict where they might strike next to avoid being caught they use gloves covered their faces left little evidence behind by cleaning down with bleach stolen vehicles and sets of forced number plates were also used detailed statements from local residents helps piece together the likely makes and models of the vehicles they were using detectives painstakingly reviewed hours of CCTV and ampr to track down the vehicles using surveillance and enhanced tactics we gathered intelligence a potential burglary locations to counter the criminals before they had a chance to make their getaway it didn't take long before the team spotted a vehicle driving away at speed from a suspected location later found out to be a recently burgled house the flying Squad were deployed joined by Surrey police local units and ampr interceptors after a short high-speed chase officers apprehended these violent offenders jewelry and other property valued at a hundred thousand pounds was recovered from the vehicle and has since been returned to its rightful owners the free men responsible for these home invasions was sentenced to a total of 14 years and nine months the evidence were provided left no doubt to their guilt the impact of burglary isn't just Financial it can also have a significant impact on an individual's emotional well-being and sense of safety the Met would do everything they can to arrest those who commit these crimes as well as return stolen items to their rightful owners