Man arrested for retail offences across the UK worth more than half a million pounds

A man has been arrested as part of a joint investigation by Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce, The Metropolitan Police and Operation Opal into several high-value retail crime incidents at stores throughout the UK, totalling over half a million pounds.

Between December 2024 and July 2025, seven reports of theft, robbery and fraud were reported in stores across Scotland, with numerous further offences in England.

The offences in Scotland took place within the North East, Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Forth Valley, and Glasgow and totalled losses of £18,000.

The other offences all took place throughout England and along with those in Scotland, totalled around £600,000. Investigations south of the Border were co-ordinated by The Metropolitan Police and Operation Opal.

As a result, the 32-year-old was arrested in London on Friday, 3 October.

He is being recalled to prison in the London area for breaches of his licence and will be reported to Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and England’s Crown Prosecution Service in due course.

Inspector Emma Wright from Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce said: “This is without a doubt one of the most significant arrests for the Taskforce since our inception in April of this year and demonstrates the vital importance of working closely with other forces and key partners to tackle retail crime in all its forms.

“As soon as we were able to identify a pattern of offending, we worked closely with The Metropolitan Police and Operation Opal to build and share intelligence and then subsequently conduct enforcement activity resulting in an arrest.

“We are grateful for all of the support and assistance of our partners during this investigation and will continue to explore opportunities to conduct further partnership enforcement, targeting those who commit retail offences across borders.”