Tunnelling Gang Pleads Guilty to £700,000 Jewellery Heists
Three men admit conspiracy charges after a foiled Tooting burglary and a series of London-wide break-ins.
Callum Smith
Three men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges following a foiled jewellery heist in Tooting.
Officers responded to a suspected burglary at 03:12hrs on Friday, 17 July; body-worn video captured their arrival shortly after 3am.
Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara and Ioan Asafeti were arrested at the scene, reportedly after breaking into the massage parlour to attempt the tunnelling.
Sergiu Plastin was detained at Stansted Airport later that day, attempting to flee to Ireland.
The group is linked to a series of commercial burglaries across London, collectively valued at more than £700,000.
These men primarily targeted jewellers, employing tunnelling techniques to gain access to shops overnight while bypassing established security systems.
Their alleged plan involved tunnelling through a wall directly into the adjacent jewellery shop.
Further enquiries, conducted through Interpol, reportedly revealed the group's possible links to similar offences across Europe.
Dan Mitchell stated, "Their arrests didn't just stop this burglary. They formed part of a wider Flying Squad investigation that uncovered an organised crime group linked to a string of jewellery shop break-ins across London worth more than £700,000."
Mitchell added, "We're driving down commercial burglary across the capital, with offences falling by 12 per cent in the past year."
Our message to these criminals is clear: target London businesses and we'll hunt you down and put you before the courts.
He concluded, "Our message to these criminals is clear: target London businesses and we'll hunt you down and put you before the courts."
The trio admitted guilt at Kingston Crown Court and are scheduled for sentencing on 23 October.