Youth crime task force Operation Mandrake targeting more than 50 persons of interest luring children into life of crime

A specialist police team is probing more than 50 repeat youth offending ringleaders they believe are driving a surge in crime.

• Brickworks ‘family’ plagued by break-ins, shoplifting

Police are targeting “gang” ringleaders luring vulnerable children into committing crime in exchange for cash, drugs and alcohol and fuelling a youth crime spike across Adelaide, it can be revealed.

Youth crime task force Operation Mandrake is actively investigating more than 50 recidivist offenders known to police and suspected of “luring” children into committing crime.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Graham Goodwin, who oversees Operation Mandrake, said Indigenous children being targeted by older friends and relatives was a major police concern.

“Very clearly some of the, who we would say are lead organisers, they’re the ones who entice others into joining them and into some of this criminal-type behaviour,” Mr Goodwin told The Advertiser.

“These people have a very strong influence over our younger offenders and take them along with some of their criminal behaviour and criminal activity.

“As is in every group, gang … sometimes people get drawn into that lifestyle.

Several businesses at three different shopping centres were broken into in a crime spree on Wednesday morning. Picture: 7 News

“They see what people have got from their criminal behaviour and their criminal offending and sometimes people are influenced by that and people are then enticed into joining them or encouraged to or exposed to either a drug culture, an alcohol culture or a straight out criminal offending sort of culture.”

It can also be revealed police are exploring using new legislation that carries the harshest penalties in Australia for adults who recruit children to commit crimes on their behalf to stamp out the spike in offending.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher last month announced criminals recruiting children would be prosecuted as if they had committed the crime themselves under the proposed new laws which would see individuals face a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment regardless of whether or not the child commits the crime.

“These are new laws that still need to work through the courts but we use the legal system, the law, to achieve a result,” Mr Goodwin said.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Graham Goodwin said Operation Mandrake was targeting offenders “luring” kids into a life of crime. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“It just really concerns us that we have a vulnerable group of people, Aboriginal kids, who are easily led by some of their older relatives and easily influenced by their family kinship that would go and commit some of this offending.

“We will use everything in our powers and in our abilities to restrict people’s movement or to prevent them from committing those offences.

“We know that if we intervene and we pay a lot of attention to and target the people who we know are the ringleaders, so to speak, then we prevent a lot of offending from occurring.”

The move comes as police continue to investigate a spate of break-ins at businesses in three separate shopping centres on Wednesday.

Police were called to the Brickworks Marketplace shopping centre at Torrensville just before 1am on Wednesday after an alarm was activated, with cash registers allegedly stolen from businesses Oasis Pizza and Pasta, Chillilulu, Cibo Espresso and W & W Quan, which had all been broken into.

An hour later, police were called to the Highland Village Shopping Centre at Greenwith after a witness reported hearing breaking glass and seeing several people leave the centre in a white hatchback.

Businesses at the Para Hills Shopping Centre were also targeted.

On Wednesday, Western District police arrested a 14-year-old Seaton boy, a 14-year-old Devon Park boy and a 15-year-old Seaton boy over the break-ins.

The Devon Park boy was charged with four counts of serious criminal trespass related to the Greenwith break-ins.

He was also charged over break-ins at Oasis Pizza and Pasta at Brickworks Marketplace and a Findon supermarket.

Chillilulu owner Bofei Hou’s business was broken into on Wednesday morning. Picture: Kelly Barnes

The 15-year-old Seaton boy, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant, was charged with two counts of serious criminal trespass over the Brickworks break-ins and breach of bail.

The 14-year-old Seaton boy was charged with two counts of serious criminal trespass over the Brickworks break-ins and unlawfully being on premises.

During the arrests, police found a stolen Hyundai believed to be linked to the crime spree at the Seaton address where the teens were arrested.

All three boys were refused bail to face the Adelaide Youth Court on Thursday.

Mr Goodwin said Operation Mandrake was investigating 15 to 20 youths, five of whom were being sought in relation to Wednesday morning’s crime spree, suspected of being involved in a series of recent break-ins.

He said the impact of the offending on business owners “far exceeds what they actually lose from a physical sense”.

“You can just imagine how frustrated and how angry business owners are dealing with this, in a lot of cases, a lot of damage being caused, for a few dollars’ return but that’s the sort of brazen activity we’re dealing with,” he said.

Police are continuing to investigate the spate of break-ins. Picture: 7 News

Additional resources from SA Police’s four metropolitan district teams have been diverted to Operation Mandrake, which has made 87 arrests since July 1 last year.

Mr Goodwin said working with families and the Indigenous community was key to stopping and preventing youth crime.

“We talk to them very regularly, informing them about what the level of offending is that is occurring, what people are up to,” he said.

“We just need to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to stop people from going down that path and not following some of these people and making the right choice.

“If you can break that cycle and stop that cycle then you’ve got a good chance of preventing another person from going into the criminal justice system but you don’t get many chances at that.

“Once they become entrenched and adopt that sort of lifestyle, it’s very hard to get them out of it.”