New crackdown after 60 burglaries in just two months including suspect found with homemade stun gun
More than 60 burglaries have taken place at homes across the West Midlands since October, with at least 50 of them thought to be linked.
Police have now launched a taskforce to step up the fight against the raiders who demand valuables and threaten their victims with violence.
Detective believe there are six or seven gangs operating in the region, mainly targeting the elderly and people with an Asian background.
Some victims have been threatened with weapons.
Offenders have been described as Eastern European and black, or as having Irish accents.
In the last three weeks, there have been five raids in Dudley, four in Walsall, two in Sandwell and six in Wolverhampton.
A total of 62 attacks have taken place since October.
In Wolverhampton, some victims were visited by door-to-door salesmen with Irish accents in what detectives believe could have been ‘reconnaissance trips’.
While in West Bromwich, a suspect was arrested after being caught with Asian gold and a homemade stun gun.
On Tuesday, December 19, four men burst into a house in Winson Green and demanded the family hand over cash and jewellery. Jewellery was ripped from a woman and a CD player was stolen from under a Christmas tree.
Detective Superintendent Alison Telford, leading the West Midlands Police response to the raids, said: “These crimes are particularly abhorrent. Offenders are targeting vulnerable people in their homes where they should feel safest.
“We are putting a huge amount of resources behind catching those responsible, including extra support from our uniformed officers, as well as covert work.
“We would urge people to follow our simple crime-prevention tips, and to report any suspicious activity on 101.”
While 33 of the offences have happened in Birmingham since October there have been raids elsewhere in the region in the past three weeks.
Earlier this month, police appealed for information on Jimmy Connors, aged 28, and 17-year-old Tom Ward.
Both suspects are understood to be from the same travelling community and have been in and around the West Midlands.
