Organised gangs unleashing a wave of crime around King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are facing a major police crackdown, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Wealthy passengers have been targeted in a spate of high-profile thefts outside one of London's busiest transport hubs, including members of Abu Dhabi's royal family, who had £600,000 worth of jewellery stolen by a gang of illegal Algerian migrants. 

Algerian thieves were also responsible for stealing £250,000 worth of jewellery and handbags from ex-F1 driver Jenson Button's wife last year and a gold suitcase containing £175,000 worth of luxury goods from a woman in April.

Earlier this month, an influencer's Louis Vuitton suitcase, designer handbags and jewellery, were also brazenly snatched while she was packing her luggage into the boot of a taxi. The thief is still on the run.

In the shadow of the iconic railway stations, secluded mews and leafy squares surrounded by upmarket London hotels have become overrun with drug dealers, addicts, homeless camps and violent anti-social behaviour.

The Daily Mail was this week invited to go out on patrol with uniformed officers from the Met Police and undercover officers from British Transport Police (BTP), with both forces determined to crack down on crime.

By 8.30am – before we have arrived at Holborn Police Station – a series of blue-light police cars are hurtling through central London, intersecting pedestrians and cyclists on their way to work.

'There's a lot of individuals and groups committing crime in King's Cross, and we are using intelligence-led policing to target every single one of them,' Chief Inspector Dan Hodges, of the Metropolitan Police, tells me ahead of the force's briefing. 

'Luggage theft, anti-social behaviour, retail crime and homelessness in King's Cross are all big challenges we are facing at the moment.'

Chief Inspector Hodges says luggage theft in particular is 'organised' crime, with thieves waiting to pounce on 'distracted' tourists.

'Unfortunately they are very good at what they do,' he says. 'They are watching... they are looking for luggage and when the opportune moment comes, they are taking it.'

Today, his officers are being tasked with cracking down on 'prolific' luggage theft around St Pancras, where they are being told there are 'four or five' incidents at least per day.

Two St Pancras thieves have been arrested just hours before the briefing.

They have been told to be on the prowl for 'distraction' techniques, such as thieves approaching private chauffeurs while they are dropping off wealthy clients carrying designer handbags and jewellery.

Another tactic police are aware of is thieves putting mayonnaise on their victims' clothes, pretending it is bird poo as a distraction while another criminal steals their luggage.

As well as patrolling around the train stations, officers have been briefed to be on the lookout for anti-social behaviour, drugs, violence and brothels in nearby neighbourhoods including around Argyle Square.

Once a quintessential London square surrounded by affluent housing and hotels, it has become a major hotspot for drugs and anti-social behaviour.

As we approach the square, a skeletal addict scuttles away down the street, another hides behind a tree and a third, believed to be homeless, is sleeping rough on a mattress.

Just yards away, two female tourists are looking for their hotel, carrying luxury Rimowa suitcases worth as much as £1,700.

Officers approach another intoxicated man wearing a Sir David Beckham AC Milan shirt and playing a guitar. We will later see him handed a dispersal order from St Pancras for urinating on the street, while thousands of passengers are spilling out of the station.

Around the corner, we find a 'regular' Fentanyl user, who police believe has just 'scored' as he is visibly spaced out and non-verbal. Officers then quickly check in on a suspected brothel in the area.

This type of anti-social behaviour has led to a feeling of unease in the area, with hotels reporting loud screaming and criminality in the area in the early hours of the morning.

The sergeant leading the operation says cannabis and heroin are 'rife' in King's Cross, which has become a grim sight for tourists arriving in London.

'If I put myself in their position, I don't want to be going to a city and as soon as I come out of the station, the smell of drugs or seeing drug-users walking around,' he says.

'We just want to make sure it's a safe area to come and go from.'

Before heading to St Pancras Station, we make a pitstop at a well-known hotspot for drug use but the addicts have moved on – leaving behind a trail of needles and drug paraphernalia.

As we approach St Pancras Road, it is a scene of chaos with passengers from the Eurostar, six London Underground lines and National Rail services converging outside.

We are walking past the taxi rank where American influencer Colleen Bankston was targeted just a few weeks ago.

Ms Bankston and her husband were loading luggage into an Uber when she believes at least three criminals worked together to rob her – one of them communicating with the others through a headset.

The 62-year-old was standing next to her Louis Vuitton suitcase containing a large sum of cash, designer handbags and 'sentimental' jewellery her husband had given her 35 years ago when the suspect, dressed smartly in a white collared shirt, chinos and cap, struck.

Officers are desperate to crack down on this type of theft around the station.

The suspects are predominantly Algerian and North African and it is believed to be linked to organised crime.

However, at this stage they do not have intelligence on where the high-value goods are ending up.

As we walk by, a stream of families, many carrying designer brands and several suitcases, are approaching drivers and taxis after hopping off the Eurostar from Paris.

Lurking in the shadows are the could-be thieves, with plain-clothed covert officers watching for suspicious activity.

Anas Ali, 53, who has been a private chauffeur for 15 years, describes how thieves prey on distracted tourists, swooping from behind and stealing their luggage while they are not watching.

'We have seen it a lot,' he says. 'I am always telling my clients to keep their eye on their luggage. Some of our clients are carrying high-value luggage like Louis Vuitton.'

The Daily Mail revealed earlier this month that private chauffeurs were being trained to keep their wealthy passengers safe when dropping off outside King's Cross and St Pancras.

They said thieves wait for tourists to get in the back of the car before opening the boot and snatching the luggage from the boot in a matter of seconds.

Others described how thieves pounce while clients are tipping their driver and leave their luggage momentarily.

Chauffeur Adnan said: 'King's Cross is part of the training where they say you have to be extra careful because people are taking luggage from the vehicles.

'Once the [passenger] gets in the car, you have to be careful. That is part of the training. They could be TV stars, movie stars, wealthy people, high net worth individuals.'

Our investigation also exposed 'jurisdiction' confusion between the Met Police and British Transport Police, which has led to victims being caught up in bureaucratic red tape.

When we visited the stations, announcements loudly warning passengers that 'bag thieves operate in the area' are timed to go off every ten minutes.

Last year, an Algerian career criminal swiped a suitcase containing £250,000 worth of jewellery and designer handbags from Jenson Button's wife outside St Pancras while the former Formula 1 driver was helping a chauffeur load luggage into the car.

Mourad Aid, 41, stole Brittny Button's Goyard carry-on, filled with jewellery from her wedding and heirlooms she wanted to pass onto her daughter, on February 13 last year as they returned from a Valentine's getaway in Paris.

The illegal immigrant was jailed for two years and four months in May. None of the stolen items were recovered.

Meanwhile in June, an Algerian gang stole £600,000 worth of jewellery from three members of the Abu Dhabi royal family outside St Pancras after they arrived on the Eurostar.

Abdel Aitkebir, 35, and Medhi Fatih, 41, were jailed over the incident in June.

None of their loot was recovered but Aitkebir said he sold one of the cases and its contents to a market trader in south London for £10,000.

Earlier this month, another 'devious' Algerian thief, Bilal Arbaoui, 32, was jailed for one year and ten months after stealing a gold suitcase containing £175,000 worth of items outside St Pancras.

The victim had arrived on the Eurostar from Paris and was waiting for her pre-ordered taxi when Arbaoui approached her with a tissue, claiming her trousers were dirty.

As she wiped at the mark on her clothing, the thief made off with her suitcase, which contained designer bags, watches and jewellery.

And in March, a police officer was seen borrowing a bike to chase down Algerian thief Hicham Labidi, who stole a suitcase from the boot of a taxi outside St Pancras.

Keith Oliver, who has been a London cab driver for 30 years, said there is an 'air of chaos' around King's Cross.

'It's rife here, it really is. I warn all the passengers to keep their cases close to them. They go behind, lift the boot up and take a case or two.'

The 63-year-old added: 'People get distracted easily, it's a distraction crime. While they are dealing with fares, that's when they take the luggage.'

King's Cross is the second most crime-ridden train station in the country, with 1,479 offences last year, only behind nearby London Euston (1,536), while St Pancras International is fourth with 1,035 offences.

Meanwhile, King's Cross St Pancras is both the busiest and most dangerous Tube station on the London Underground. Recorded incidents at the Tube station have more than doubled from 528 (2022) to 1,100 (2024) in three years.

BTP Superintendent Nicholas Sedgemore said they have stepped up patrols after a series of 'organised' thefts outside the stations.

This has led to a 15 per cent decrease in luggage theft since launching a crackdown on criminal gangs last December. They have made 67 luggage theft arrests since then.

London St Pancras Highspeed, which owns St Pancras International station, said the spate of thefts was 'very concerning'.

arthur.parashar@dailymail.co.uk