Police use synthetic DNA to raid off licences selling £150,000 of goods stolen from supermarkets
22 April 2025, 14:23
Police have been using synthetic DNA to raid off licences selling goods stolen from supermarkets.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
More than 100 officers were involved in targeted raids at eight off licences in Merton and Wandsworth on April 9.
The stores were suspected of buying items that had been stolen from major retailers and selling them on at lower prices.
Around £150,000 worth of goods were recovered after officers marked 5,000 items with synthetic DNA.
Alcohol and chocolates were among the most commonly stolen items.
Each mark is unique and can be traced back to the original store which means officers can return to gather more evidence, such as CCTV and victim impact statements to help bring prosecutions.
Read more: Moment angry shopper smashes megaphone of vegan activists berating customers for buying Easter lamb
Read more: Vegan activist calls Nick Ferrari to defend supermarket protests
Officers also found several own-brand items that had been made for particular supermarkets available for sale in the shops.
Ten men, aged between 23 and 64, and three women, aged between 39 and 45, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have since been bailed pending further enquiries.
A further two men, both aged 48, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods in separate activity on April 17. They were also bailed.
Sergeant James Burke, from the Met’s neighbourhood policing team in south-west London, said: "Shoplifting pushes up prices for customers and often results in retail workers being verbally and physically abused.
"It also funds the drug trade and contributes to anti-social behaviour and violence.
"The local officers in my neighbourhood team have put in months of hard work alongside impacted businesses to trial new tactics to drive down shoplifting in the area and have delivered impressive results here.
"The Met is focused on targeting those involved in co-ordinating this activity and by disrupting their operation we are confident we can reduce offending and the impact it has on communities across London."
Officers also searched a barber's shop in Tooting High Street and a residential property in Sandy Lane, Cheam.
Anyone with information about suspected offending is asked to call 101 and speak to the South West Basic Command Unit about Operation Zoridon.
