Three men have admitted conspiring to burgle a jewellery shop in Tooting, south London, by digging a tunnel from a neighbouring massage parlour. Ioan Asafeti, 39, Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, and Sergiu Plastin, 42, pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court on Friday to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and causing criminal damage.
Arrests after police response to suspected burglary
Officers from the Metropolitan Police were called to reports of a suspected burglary on Mitcham Road, Tooting, on July 17, arriving at 3.12am. Body-worn footage shows Nitisoara was arrested immediately in a nearby alleyway, while Asafeti was found hiding on a rooftop after a search of the area, the force said.
Police also searched the massage parlour the pair had broken into, where they discovered the group’s plan to tunnel through a wall into the adjacent jewellery shop. Bags of tools and equipment for digging the hole were found at the scene, according to the Met Police.
Third man arrested at Stansted Airport
Plastin was arrested later that day at Stansted Airport as he attempted to flee to Ireland. Officers identified a car linked to the group and used mobile phone data to track him down.
The investigation, led by the Met Police’s Flying Squad, linked the group to several burglaries across London between May and July. Detectives found the men mainly targeted jewellers, using tunnelling techniques to gain access to shops overnight while bypassing security systems, the force said. CCTV footage showing the men obtaining tools and other equipment used in the offences was also recovered.
Wider investigation links to £700,000 burglary series
Further enquiries through Interpol found the group had possible links to similar offences in Europe, the force added. The arrests 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.
Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, of the Met Police’s Flying Squad, said: “These criminals dug their own hole after emergency response officers caught them red-handed. 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% 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.”
The three men will be sentenced on October 23 at Kingston Crown Court.
