By SCM International Desk I Thursday, August 21,2026
A CLUMSY OCG gang of “human moles” who tried to tunnel their way into a South London jewellery shop have been brought to justice after police caught them red-handed.
The dim-witted crooks spent hours burrowing through the wall of a massage parlour next door in a desperate bid to bag a mega haul of gems on Tooting’s bustling Mitcham Road.
But their audacious £700,000 subterranean plot went completely down the drain when eagle-eyed cops swooped on the scene within minutes—leaving the spade-wielding bandits with nowhere to run.
Dramatic body-worn camera footage captures the thrilling moment Metropolitan Police officers swarmed the South London street at 3:12 AM on Friday, 17 July.
Cops spotted initial suspect Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, skulking in a nearby alleyway and handcuffed him on the spot. Moments later, team members searched the surrounding roofs and discovered accomplice Ioan Asafeti, 39, cowering on a rooftop in the dark.
Upon raiding the targeted massage parlour next door, officers uncovered a massive hole carved into the wall alongside heavy-duty bags packed with drills, picks, and tunneling gear.
Determined not to let the rest of the gang slip through the net, Scotland Yard’s elite Flying Squad launched an urgent manhunt for the third member, Sergiu Plastin, 42.
Detectives tracked his getaway vehicle and traced his mobile phone data to Stansted Airport, where officers tackled him just as he was about to board a flight to Ireland.
The brazen Tooting drill was no one-off. Flying Squad detectives connected the trio to a string of high-value, night-time commercial burglaries across London between May and July.
The gang specialized in tunneling into jewellers from adjoining properties to completely bypass high-tech security alarms, racking up an estimated £700,000 loot. Cops also gathered extensive CCTV footage showing the men buying tools and equipment before raids.
Interpol checks revealed the sophisticated gang had carried out similar mole-style burglaries across continental Europe.
Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, of the Met’s Flying Squad, mocked the subterranean stooges, saying:
”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.
”Our message to these criminals is clear: target London businesses and we’ll hunt you down and put you before the courts.”
Appearing at Kingston Crown Court today (Friday, 21 August 2026), all three men entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and cause criminal damage:
Ioan Asafeti, 39, of no fixed address
Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, of no fixed address
Sergiu Plastin, 42, of Portadown, Craigavon
The gang will be remanded in custody until they are sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 23 October.
Met Police figures show commercial burglaries across the capital have dropped by 12.1 per cent in the past year following a surge in targeted frontline patrols.
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