A covert police operation in London involving undercover officers flaunting brands such as Rolex in the hope they would be targeted by criminals has helped cut luxury watch robberies by nearly half, Scotland Yard has said.

Metropolitan police officers loitered around the capital’s most swish nightclubs and restaurants and lured would-be robbers by posing with timepieces worth tens of thousands of pounds.

When anyone attempted to steal the watches they were arrested by hidden officers lying in wait, show videos from covert operations in Soho that were shown to reporters on Tuesday.

The operation helped to reduce annual watch robberies from 113 to 55 in the year to July 2023 in three central London boroughs: Westminster; Kensington and Chelsea; and Hammersmith and Fulham, police figures show.

In two operations over several months in 2022 and 2023, 27 people were arrested. Of these 21 were later convicted, according to figures provided at the briefing.

Ben Russell, the Met’s commander for intelligence, paid tribute to the courage of the undercover officers involved. He said: “This was a successful operation, primarily down to the bravery of our officers who volunteered to stand alone in dark streets in the middle of the night, waiting to be robbed.”

Watch robberies typically occur in fashionable neighbourhoods between 11pm and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays, the figures show. Thieves target luxury Swiss brands worn by the rich, according to Russell.

He said: “These criminals are hanging outside bars and clubs as people leave these venues, hoping to target people who may be intoxicated and therefore vulnerable.

“They’re also pinpointing areas in and around Westminster — such as Soho, Kensington and Chelsea, as they know people travel there to enjoy themselves, and that these people are generally quite affluent and so may be wearing nice watches.

“They’re looking for any luxury watch that can be resold for a high value. There isn’t one particular brand that stands out — but you see the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe … They can be worth anything from £10,000 to upwards of £100,000.”

The operation came after a number of celebrities, including the boxer Amir Kahn and the singer and broadcaster Aled Jones, were robbed of their luxury watches.

Russell urged the public to weary of thieves and wear long sleeves to cover watches while walking on the street.

He said: “We think this is an organised crime, but it’s pretty opportunistic. There are groups of young men, mainly in their 20s and 30s, hanging around outside bars and clubs spotting people, and they know what they’re looking for.

“They’re not stealing people’s fakes — they are targeting original, genuine, expensive watches. They’re getting right up in people’s faces, they’re man-handling victims, they’re spending quite a bit of time talking to victims to make sure they know what they’re stealing.”

By Matthew Weaver

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