Three men admit tunnelling from massage parlour into south London jeweller’s shop
Men have admitted trying to burrow into a jewellery shop in south London through the wall of a neighbouring massage parlour, a plot police
Three men have admitted trying to burrow into a jewellery shop in south London through the wall of a neighbouring massage parlour, a plot police say was part of a wider burglary spree targeting jewellers across the capital. The attempted raid on Mitcham Road in Tooting happened in the early hours of 17 July.
Ioan Asafeti, 39, Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, both with no fixed address, and Sergiu Plastin, 42, of Portadown, County Armagh, pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court to conspiracy to commit burglary. The case has drawn attention not just for the improvised tunnel, but for the way investigators pieced together the arrests: body-worn camera footage, rooftop searches and mobile phone data all played a part.
Hole found between adjoining rooms
When officers reached the scene at about 3.12am, they found a hole being dug through the wall linking the massage parlour and the jewellery store, along with bags of tools. Nitisoara was arrested in a nearby alleyway. Asafeti was found hiding on a rooftop after officers searched the area.
Plastin went further. Detectives tracked him down using mobile phone data and arrested him later that day at Stansted Airport as he tried to board a flight to Ireland.
The Met’s Flying Squad linked the trio to a series of commercial burglaries aimed at jewellers in London between May and July. Stolen goods in those cases were valued at more than £700,000. Investigators said the gang used tunnelling techniques to get in overnight and sidestep security systems.
Broader probe points beyond one shop
That wider picture matters. Jewellery shops have long been a high-value target for organised thieves because stock can be compact, easy to move and difficult to trace once it disappears. The London case also shows how modern policing now leans on a mix of old-fashioned scene work and digital trails: a hole in a wall, a camera recording an arrest, a phone signal leading detectives to an airport.
Interpol inquiries indicated there could be links to similar offences elsewhere, though investigators have not set out that connection in detail. The court hearing did not open the door to a full account of how the crew planned the raid, but the guilty pleas confirm the attempt itself and the burglary conspiracy charge.
The men’s sentencing date was not given in the material available. For now, the record stands at one tunnel, three guilty pleas and more than £700,000 in alleged stolen goods tied to the wider investigation.
