PREMIER League stars including Jack Grealish are being targeted by professional burglars who sell their loot to criminals known as The Gucci Gang.
England’s and fiancée had £1million of watches and jewellery
The Gucci Gang is reportedly led by Glen Ward, known as Mr FlashyCredit: Refer to source
Footie ace Jack Grealish and fiancée Sasha Attwood had £1million of watches and jewellery nickedCredit: Instagram
Love Islander Molly-Mae Hague and boxer Tommy Fury had £800,000 worth of items takenCredit: Rex
Underworld contacts have told The Sun how criminals who used to target banks and cash vans have switched their focus to players and .
They have now formed links with the Gucci Gang, reportedly led by Glen Ward, known as Mr Flashy for his love of designer gear.
Our source said the crooks scour social media accounts for stars’ flash goods and often hook up with Albanian thieves to plan raids.
UK-based robbery teams drive in convoys to a player’s property and use lookouts.
They head straight to a master bedroom as they know players like to lay out their luxury goods in walk-in dressing rooms.
Source
They break into the grounds and use telescopic ladders to enter upstairs floors.
“They head straight to a master bedroom as they know players like to lay out their luxury goods in walk-in dressing rooms.
Security systems are also less likely to be fully activated when a house is occupied.
Once they have got away, a luxury goods dealer is paid to guarantee the stolen items are genuine and to value them.
The haul is transported by car to then taken across the Irish Sea to the Dublin-based Gucci Gang who buy with cash, or swap it for or guns.
Premier League stars targeted include England’s , 30, currently on loan at .
His fiancée Sasha Attwood, 28, and ten others were watching him on TV play for Manchester City when a via an upstairs balcony in December 2023.
The burglars got away with more than £1million of luxury items.
Grealish, who ironically said at the time: “This has been a traumatic experience for all of us.
“I hope they are brought to justice so no other family has to go through what we have.”
Terrified Sasha was initially unsure if she would stay in the property, which they had moved into days earlier.
In August we revealed how having failed to turn up any leads.
A gang ransacked a bedroom of ex-Liverpool ace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his partner, Little Mix’s Perrie EdwardsCredit: Getty
A gang targeted the home of model Olivia Attwood, married to Gillingham footballer Bradley DackCredit: Getty
Our source said: “These are career criminals who know the risks of being arrested for a domestic burglary are a lot lower than for an armed robbery on a cash van.
“They are based in the and target players living in Cheshire and Merseyside.
“They are well organised and not afraid to hook up with Albanian criminals who are experts in carrying out reconnaissance and finding weak spots in security systems.
“They are not worried if people are at home as they can get in and out within minutes and have getaway drivers.
“Luxury watches, designer jewellery and handbags are their main targets. Some watches can be worth half a million pounds.”
The criminals are looking through Instagram accounts of players and their partners.
Source
The Gucci Gang has links with Ireland’s infamous , whose feud with the Hutch family has seen at least 18 people murdered.
Ward, 32, is currently serving a 5½-year sentence for opening fire with a semi-automatic gun at a house party in .
The source added: “The criminals are looking through accounts of players and their partners.
“They spot watches, necklaces, handbags so that they know what they are looking for when they break in.
“Once they are away, they use a legitimate dealer who is trusted to give an estimate of what the stuff is worth.
“That sets the price and then they are driven up to Scotland and taken across the water to Ireland.
“They either keep the stuff if they want it, or sell it in or where they have big links in .
“They like selling stuff in euros because the biggest note is €500, in it is just a £50 note and everyone knows how they get looked at when you try to use one.
Chelsea star Raheem Sterling confronted thieves in his home and they fled empty-handedCredit: Getty Images
Thieves broke in to Jack Grealish and fiancée Sasha Attwood’s £5.6million Cheshire mansionCredit: Instagram @sasha__rebecca
“Getting a watch across a border is much, much easier than transporting a load of cash.
“You just wear it on your wrist and pull a sleeve over it. It could be the equivalent of £500,000 on your wrist.”
The source said that while jewellery is worth less as it needs to be broken down, watches can sell on the black market for 60 per cent of their value.
Watches can also be used as collateral in exchange for drugs which are then sold on the streets.
Our source said the burglaries are unlikely to stop soon and could even rise in the festive period.
The criminals don’t care about the effect they have on the footballers and their families.
Source
They warned: “Some players will be spending thousands on bags or jewellery. It’ll be packaged up in boxes — and ready to be stolen.”
Last month star confronted thieves in his home and they fled empty-handed.
In July a gang targeted the while she was working in Spain.
They reportedly fled with some items but not what they were seeking.
Olivia, married to Gillingham footballer , posted a tearful video condemning them as “scumbags”.
In 2022 of ex-Liverpool ace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his partner, Little Mix’s .
‘All they care about is the money’
The couple were in at the time but only realised later that jewellery and handbags were missing.
In 2021 Love Islander and boxer had from their Manchester home while they were in .
Our source added: “The criminals don’t care about the effect they have on the footballers and their families. All they care about is the they can make.”
Some clubs, including , have paid for security teams to guard players’ homes.
striker is among aces to splash out £30,000 on protection dogs.
BOXER BEN RAIDED
By
BOXER Ben Whittaker returned home from his knockout win to find his house had been burgled.
The British pro celebrated, left, after beating German Benjamin Gavazi in the first round on Saturday night.
But after leaving the Matchroom event in Birmingham, he found criminals had ransacked his house.
The thieves even made off from Wednesbury, in West Mids, with the IBF international light-heavyweight belt he won last year. Whittaker, 28, told his followers online: “Highs and lows of the sport.
“Come back, house has been burgled. They’ve even took my IBF belt. What are they going to do with that?”
He has offered a “big” reward for anyone with information about the burglary.
West Midlands Police are investigating.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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