Police swoop on 'woman ringleader of smash and grab raids'

The woman, and two men, all in their twenties, were held in dawn raids on six addresses in north London.

The arrests came as police revealed that motorcycle gangs have carried out 143 raids on stores in central London since January.

In total, the gangs have seized more than £3 million worth of goods, an average of £24,000 in each raid.

In today's operation, detectives from the Westminster central crime squad recovered suspected stolen goods, including designer handbags, sunglasses and clothes. The officers swooped on four houses and two lock-up garages in Islingtonand Tottenham. All three arrested were being interviewed at a central London police station today.

The move follows mounting concern among West End stores over a new spate of robberies involving gangs on stolen scooters and motorcycles in lightning operations. Stores targeted include Anya Hindmarch's handbag shop in New Bond Street, Jimmy Choo shoes and Asprey jewellers.

The motorbike gangs were known to include at least one female member. In March this year, a witness saw a woman pillion passenger clutching several stolen handbags after a raid on the Salvatore Ferragamo store in Old Bond Street. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Roycroft said today: "Today's raids were part of a long-term operation against smash-and-grab robbers in the West End which the Met takes extremely seriously. These are very organised gangs and we are determined to target them."

Police believe the individuals involved in the raids are known to each other in a loosely-linked group.

The gangs are believed to be making millions of pounds reselling the designer items on the black market.

Shops have been advised not to display goods in windows overnight and to install shutters, but the precautions have done little to prevent the robberies continuing.

In one series of raids last year, a detective likened the gangs' operations to something out of the film Mission: Impossible. The teams would load stolen motorcycles - with licence plates removed - into the back of a van and drive into central London.

Once close to the target store, the motorbikes would roar out of the van, race to the target, smash the front windows with sledgehammers and grab as much as they could before escaping.

Often, the gang would load the bikes back into the van and calmly drive away, explaining why the police were often mystified as to how their getaway route was not picked up on CCTV cameras.

Detectives from the Westminster crime squad carried out a series of arrests last year, but one senior officer said: "The proceeds from these raids are so great that there is always someone else to step into their shoes."

Police believe those arrested today are all ringleaders of at least one gang.