POLICE IN GANG.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 1 May 1926, Page 6

POLICE IN GANG.

SENSATIONAL DISCOVER V.

THIEVING ORGANISATION.

Simultaneous raids on the homos ol many members of the West Australian police force have resulted m the startling allegations that certain police are suspected of having acted in collusion with an elaborately organised gang of thieves, thought to have been responsible lor most of the mysterious thefts in Perth and 1* reliiiiitle, West Australia. The raids were the outcome of secret investigations carried out by detectives over a period of a month, and three policemen have been suspected by the Department as a result. Other arrests are anticipated. A most ellieient transport service was one of the main adjuncts of the gang suspected, which worked in conjunction with persons who acted as receivers for the stolen property. And the gang is said to have been made up to a great extent by policemen whose knowledge of the districts concerned, and the whereabouts of other members of the force on duty proved most valuable when robberies were contemplated. - A large quantity of goods suspected i’ having been stolen was recovered by the detectives’ participation in the raids, and bunches of skeleton keys, capable of opening any of the warehouses or business premises in Fremantle and the surrounding district are said to have been found in the possession of one of the men arrested. , The result of the raids will be, the police claim, that robberies, which hiiYG caused Josises totalling thousands i pounds', will be cleared up. _ I lie -levercst thieving gang in the history of the State will have been brought to book when the detectives complete their raids and arrests. It is impossible to actually compute Ac extent of tho robberies, which are laid to the account of the gang. Their raids have been carried out with such extraordinary skill that it- will be months before some places know they have been robbed.

With easy access to warehouses and shops, the thieves took what they wanted without outwardly disturbing the stocks-on show. Duo firm discovered at stocktaking that the whole ol their goods from the back of the shelves had- been removed, while the appearance from ordinary inspection showed that everything was in order. Some suspicion of wlia-t was happening was engendered by the discovery recently that a -shop, which was * found to be locked in the ordinary way when the proprietor arrived in the morning, had been cleared of everything. It was then obvious that a skeleton key had been used.

In another case, a boot shop, which had been locked when the proprietor left, was found to be intact in the morning. But when the assistants were looking for a certain make of boot, which" had been stored on the . —ok' of the shelf, they that 10 pairs had mysteriously disappeared. The owner of that -shop was especially unfortunate. He was the "ictim of several mysterious raids of that kind, for though his turnover was good, at the end of the year be showed a- loss oil trading, and the stock-taking disclosed' an inordinate lirmHer of missing packages. It is claimed that the gang operating wt a, clearing isivtion from which it. operated a fleet <>f vehicles, and that in manv cases tiie goods stolen had been sold before the thefts were discovered.