POLICE are closing in on hooded thieves who raided a village shop and made off with £14,000 worth of cigarettes.

The hi-tech heist took place at the One Stop store in Greenfield in the early hours of January 12.

Raiders broke into the flat above the store, cut a hole in the floorboards and smashed their way in to the shop.

There they entered the store room and emptied the locked display containing cigarettes.

A witness appeal was made on the BBC TV’s Crimewatch programme in April but police have yet to make an arrest.
DC Andy Jessop from Mold CID said it was just a matter of time before the thieves were put behind bars.

He told the Leader: “There are at least three culprits and we believe they are from the Deeside area. More specifically, they may be from Garden City as a number of similar crimes have also taken place in that area.

“We think they have travelled from Garden City down the Coast Road, probably along the new bridge and in to Greenfield to do the job.”

DC Jessop has released CCTV images of people police would like to speak to in relation to the crime.

He said: “We had a long list of names to check as a result of the programme and we thought an arrest was imminent.

“Unfortunately the 20 or so suspects we had did not match the faces on the footage so no arrest was made.

“I would urge anyone who recognises these people to get in touch immediately.

“I’m confident that the information we need is just a phone call away.”

The offenders left the shop via the roof with 16 bin bags of cigarettes which were loaded into a white van.

The van left in the direction of Greenfield road towards the A548.

Anyone with information about the burglary is urged to contact DC Jessop at Mold CID on 01352 708493 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.