Burglars plunder £1.1m of gold from Asian communities

CALLOUS burglary gangs who target Asian communities have plundered gold worth £1.1m in the last year, leaving fear and trauma in their wake.

Teams of burglars, often from outside of Greater Manchester, are stalking areas like Oldham and Rochdale, swiping valuables worth tens of thousands while the owners are out. Often, the jewels and gold they are stealing are family heirlooms which have been in families for generations.

It’s a year-round problem for many Asian communities no matter the religion, but it becomes particularly acute during Ramadan, when Muslim families visit relatives and go to prayer more often, leaving their homes vulnerable.

In an attempt to tackle the problem, a burglary unit has been set up in Rochdale which undertakes covert activity in tandem with high-profile patrols at key times as well as conducting visits to Asian communities to encourage households to improve their security.

One of the officers in the team, PC Mohammed Latif, speaks Urdu and uses it to spread his message in harderto-reach parts of the Asian community where English isn’t the first language.

He’s visited plenty of victims of the burglary gangs, who work in groups of two, three or four people and, he says, come to Rochdale and Oldham from other parts of Greater Manchester and even West Yorkshire to steal what is frequently highpurity 24 carat gold.

It’s not unusual for households to suffer incredible losses, as much as £40,000, but more than the financial hit, families struggle to cope with the very idea that intruders have violated their homes and have taken items of incredible sentimental worth they may never see again.

PC Latif told the Observer: “This is an issue throughout the whole year but there are spikes within the year and particularly the holy month of Ramadan.”

It’s a period when families might visit mosques more frequently and often visit relatives, leaving their homes vulnerable, he said.

The burglary unit tries to ram home the message for families to ensure doors and windows are locked when they are out and encourage households to install doorbell cameras and make sure nothing is left around in their gardens that can be used to smash through a door or a window.

The effort is designed to make it much harder for the burglars, who have swiped Asian gold worth £1.1m since August last year, according to GMP.

PC Latif said: “They will come in a car, which typically has been stolen the previous day or is on false plates, and do a recce.

“They will come and go in a matter of seconds. It can literally take as little as 90 seconds to get in and out. The main focus is gold but if there’s a nice car on the drive they’ll look for the keys to that as well.

“They are taking anything between £8,000 and £12,000 of gold. I came across one a month ago which was £40,000.”

The constable added: “Burglary is a very personal crime. It’s devastating, it really is. It really touches people. I don’t believe it’s like an ordinary crime. It goes beyond that when somebody comes into your home.

“They have already violated your personal space but they then have the audacity to take your own personal possessions which you hold close to your heart. It can be really devastating. It impacts everyone, at least three generations in the same home.

“And like with any burglary, it creates anxiety within communities. Everyone is watching themselves and once you have lost prized possessions you are never going to get them back.”