Six members of a phone snatching gang believed to have been involved in dozens of thefts have been arrested as police drive down theft and robbery in south west London.
The Met Police said a targeted operation in Battersea and Nine Elms has led to an 84 per cent drop in theft and robberies in just three months.
Officers arrested six members of a gang aged between 17 and 19 as part of an intelligence-led operation on August 27 after the community raised concerns about phone theft.
Police carried out warrants at seven addresses targeting individuals believed to be involved in dozens of phone thefts and robberies in the area for over a year, seizing several suspected stolen handsets, a motorbike, a Rambo knife and drugs.
All six men have been bailed until Tuesday, 25 November. Court dates are yet to be confirmed.
The operation, known as ‘Roar’, has involved more than 90 officers and partners, such as council anti-social behaviour officers, since it was introduced in May 2025.
It comes as the Met ramps up its efforts to tackle phone thieves and deploys more officers on high-speed e-bikes to catch them.
Officers have made 20 arrests so far as part of the Roar operation, including seven members of another organised group of phone snatchers operating in the Brixton, Lambeth, Stockwell and Wandsworth areas.
The number of robberies in Battersea Park and Shaftesbury and Queenstown have also nearly halved, police figures show.
Meanwhile, thefts have been cut by 31% in Battersea Park and 32% in Shaftesbury and Queenstown.
The Met Police has seen an increase in arrests in hot spot crime areas across London this summer.
There were 1,376 arrests between June 30 and August 10 in 20 hot spot crime areas across the capital - up by a third compared to the same period last year.
The number of cases solved is up 176 per cent, according to the Met Police.
Inspector Rich Nuttall, from the Met Police who leads neighbourhood policing in Battersea, said: “We are proactively targeting crime that matters most to the people of Battersea and Nine Elms.
“This latest wave of activity is part of our relentless and continued crackdown on phone snatchers in the area – going after the perpetrators who continually target our local communities on an almost daily basis.
“Thanks to the hard work of officers, we’ve been able to arrest six more individuals linked to numerous phone theft offences, with an extensive investigation now underway to bring charges and convictions against them.
“Operations such as this play a crucial role in helping us remove dangerous criminals from our streets whose offending brings misery and fear to those we serve, and I hope this latest action provides further reassurance that we are coming down hard on phone thieves.”
