Vulnerable women and children are being trafficked to the UK to shoplift for Eastern European gangs, retail experts warn 

• Retail bosses claim shoplifting is costing stores £1billion a year in the UK 

Hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being trafficked to Britain to shoplift for Eastern European criminal gangs, retail experts have warned.

More than 50 shoplifting groups funding organised crime are being tracked by the Retailers Against Crime (RAC) partnership.

And a company in Scotland has identified a gang with 154 members stealing high-value items in bulk to sell or ship abroad.

The gangs have been linked to firearms offences, drugs and human trafficking.

Retail bosses claim shoplifting is costing stores £1billion a year, with concerns about lost revenue heightened during the frantic festive period, with the Home Office recording an average of 1,000 offences every day.

Earlier this month a couple were jailed for shoplifting more than £30,000 worth of alcohol and perfumes from Tesco supermarkets. Marian Oprescu, 27, and his girlfriend Alexandra Radu, 24, (both pictured) of Lincolnshire, targeted stores across 11 counties

One gang of 100 people trafficked from Eastern Europe operates in London. Former policeman Adam Ratcliffe (pictured), who runs the Safer Business Network, has mapped out the members through extensive research and hours watching CCTV footage

RAC managing director Maxine Fraser said the crime group, being tracked by the organisation since 2019, was based in Glasgow but sent members around the UK to shoplift.

She said four young girls had been trafficked to Britain when they were aged between just 12 and 14, specifically to steal on behalf of their abusers. And as many as 15 children continued to work for the gang, she told the BBC’s Radio 4’s current affairs series File on 4.

Many members of the group have been arrested and convicted but due to their age they were soon released and began shoplifting again, she said.

Another gang of 100, mostly consisting of female members trafficked from Eastern Europe, operates in London.

Former policeman Adam Ratcliffe, who runs the Safer Business Network, has mapped out the members through extensive research and hours watching CCTV footage.

‘This group is targeting cosmetic stores going after fragrance, high-value face creams and cosmetics,’ he told the BBC.

‘They are stealing keys to the secure cabinets within these stores where the products are stored.

Marian Oprescu, 27, (pictured) pleaded guilty to 27 shop thefts worth around £25,000 and was jailed for two years and three months

Alexandra Radu, 24, (pictured) pleaded guilty to seven thefts worth £6,000

‘They go in. Five, six, seven of them at a time. They open the drawer and they fill the bags.’

Male handlers watch the operations from a safe distance, with women doing the actual stealing because they are less likely to be seen as a threat by security guards, he added.

Those carrying out the crimes are usually at the bottom of the gang’s hierarchy – shouldering all of the risk but seeing very little reward, Mr Ratcliffe said.

‘It’s a god-awful life for these people, they are vulnerable and have been exploited,’ he said.

There were more than 1.1 million incidents of theft reported over the last year, and more than a third of retailers believe theft is worse now than it was 12 months ago, research from the Association of Convenience Stores (ASC) found.

More than 50 shoplifting groups funding organised crime are being tracked by the Retailers Against Crime (RAC) partnership (Stock image)

A video emerged yesterday of a serial shoplifter walking out of a Next store with hundreds of pounds worth of clothes before stealing £600 from a Co-op then meat from Waitrose.

Almost two-thirds of thefts are committed by repeat offenders, with the majority organised and stealing to order for gang members shielding themselves from risk, James Lowman of ASC said.

‘In some cases gangs are exploiting vulnerable people with addiction problems to steal for them to re-sell. These gangs are typically stealing higher-value items like meat, coffee, alcohol and confectionery that are easy to sell on.’

Earlier this month a couple were jailed for shoplifting more than £30,000 worth of alcohol and perfumes from Tesco supermarkets.

Marian Oprescu, 27, and his girlfriend Alexandra Radu, 24, of Lincolnshire, targeted stores across 11 counties. Oprescu was jailed for two years and three months. Radu’s sentencing was deferred for six months.

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