Arrestata una banda per aver rubato dalle banche di vestiti per venderli all’estero

Police have arrested five men over the theft of tonnes of clothes from donation banks.

Essex Police said clothes donated to charity by the public were being taken to finance criminal activities abroad.

Offenders were targeting containers in town and city centres where they can take a large quantity of clothes at once.

The force believed the group behind the crimes was selling clothes abroad to “finance other crimes or launder money to disguise their offending”.

A dozen addresses in Basildon and Thurrock in Essex and across London were raided on Tuesday for their connection to the scheme and to a Lithuanian organised crime group, police said.

The suspects, all arrested on suspicion of theft and in custody, are: a 46-year-old from Pitsea, Essex; a 38-year-old from South Ockendon, Essex; a 34-year-old and a 32-year-old from Dagenham, east London; and a 30-year-old from Purfleet, Essex.

Police also seized multiple mobile phones and several “large quantities of cash”, including £10,000 from a vehicle and more than £10,000 from a property’s bedroom.

The cash is believed to be connected to criminality.

Det Sgt Mike Monkton, of Essex Police, said: “The scale of these thefts is huge – criminals are taking tonnes and tonnes of clothing from sites nationwide that were intended to help others or raise money for those in need.

“Instead, it was being used to line the pockets of criminals operating across Europe.

“These warrants, all taking place simultaneously this morning, are a huge disruption to the operations and will ultimately help us take criminal property off our streets, crime out of our neighbourhoods and send a clear message to anyone committing these offences in our county that there will be consequences