Two men have been arrested in connection with a robbery outside Barclays in Pontypool and the burglary of 21 other commercial premises across Gwent.
The incident outside the bank happened in April this year where a substantial amount of money was taken. In the other commercial burglaries, which happened between December 2009 and July 2010, cigarettes and tobacco totalling more than £111,000 were stolen and £51,000 worth of damage was caused.
Three men were arrested in total this morning after warrants were executed in the Cwmbran and Pontypool areas.
One 25 year old man and one 31 year old man, both from Pontypool, have been arrested on suspicion of the following offences;
- Robbery following an incident outside Barclays Bank in Pontpool on 19th April 2010
- Conspiracy to burgle commercial premises
- Conspiracy to burgle a dwelling
- Money laundering offences
The third man, a 23 year old from the Cwmbran area, has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle commercial premises and money laundering offences. All three men are currently in police custody being questioned.
These results are part of Operation Drafted which was specifically set up, with dedicated officers, to investigate commercial and dwelling burglaries across the Gwent Police force area.
Detective Sergeant Garry Jones, who leads the team, said:
“I would like to reassure the public that we are committed to tackling these crimes which can affect the livelihoods of local people and cause fear amongst our communities.
We are actively targeting those responsible and will continue to do so. Therefore I would urge anyone who knows anything about such crimes to contact police so we can take the appropriate action.”
If anyone has any information relating to commercial or dwelling burglaries, they are asked to call Gwent Police on 01633 838111 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
