Five people have been arrested as part of a police investigation into a UK wide conspiracy with international links to steal from charity clothing banks.

The arrests have been made by Essex Police at a dozen addresses this week in Essex and London as part of the conspiracy involving tonnes of clothes, which officers believe is connected to a Lithuanian crime gang.

The force’s Proactive Money Laundering Team believe the group behind the thefts are taking clothes donations to among others Salvation Army, British Heart Foundation and the Firefighters Charity, and selling them abroad to finance crimes and launder money.

The items were being taken by offenders forcing entry into charity containers, who are taking a large quantity of clothes at once.

The five men remain in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of theft and are aged between 30 and 46.

Police officers also seized several mobile phones and cash, including £10,000 from a vehicle and another similar amount from a bedroom.

“The scale of these thefts is huge – criminals are taking tonnes and tonnes of clothing from sites nationwide that was intended to help others or raise money for those in need,” said Detective Sergeant Mike Monkton of Essex Police’s Proactive Money Laundering Team.

“Instead, it was being used to line the pockets of criminals operating across Europe.”

He added that police action this week has created “huge disruption to the operations and will ultimately help us take criminal property off our streets, crime out of our neighbourhoods and send a clear message to anyone committing these offences in our county that there will be consequences”.

---