AROUND 30 people have been arrested and vehicles seized as police hunt down gangs stealing high-value gold and cash from homes across Glasgow and Scotland.

Senior officers launched Operation Suitcase in July 2017 to snare the culprits who been leaving families devastated by the thefts.

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Just recently, two homes were targeted in the Uddingston area with sentimental items stolen in daylight raids. One grandmother had precious items belonging to her late grandparents and parents stolen in the raid.

Detective Inspector John Morrison, who is leading Operation Suitcase, insisted he and his team are doing all they can to catch gangs behind the crimewave.

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Up-to-date Police Scotland figures show that, since July 2017, there have been 266 such incidents reported across Scotland. UK-wide, from 2017 to April 2018, there have been a staggering 4,283 identified incidents.

Glasgow Times:
DI John Morrison is leading Operation Suitcase to crack down on the crime gangs

The amount of gold and cash stolen is in excess of £50 million UK-wide. Police Scotland’s figure is currently sitting at just under £2 million.

In Scotland, 26 arrests have been made since July 2017 and 10 vehicles seized in connection with investigations. The crimes were related to the Govan, Dalmarnock, Bellshill and Kilmarnock areas. However, only £70,000 worth of gold has been recovered.

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DI Morrison added: “We raised our concerns very early on. We’ve been supported by senior management and now have a dedicated team to take control over this.”

He said Operation Suitcase came about after a spate of family gold and cash thefts through Greater Glasgow and Paisley.

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He added: "I identified there were a lot of similarities between the crimes, and most of the victims being targeted were from South East Asian or Asian families.

“Operation Suitcase started between us and key divisions. We developed dedicated enquiry teams to work and we got an understanding and a procedure to investigate the crimes correctly, so the family gold crimes were passed to specific enquiry teams to deal with."