Reza Mehrjou has run mini‑supermarkets in Cwmbran for 39 years.
Last Sunday, he arrived at his shop in Oakfield to find a gang of thieves had smashed their way in and ransacked the shelves, stealing over £12,000 worth of goods and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
He arrived for work at 7.45am, and his shop’s cameras showed the theft had happened at around 3.35am. A car was spotted by a camera on a nearby house at around 3.15am and is believed to have dropped the thieves off. A van later arrived, where bags full of stolen items were loaded on and taken away.
Reza ran a shop in Blenheim Shops and then ran The Pantry Shop in Greenmeadow before opening the shop in Oakfield.
He told Cwmbran Life: “It’s sad. I’ve been here for 22 years. Everybody knows me and we’ve never done a bad thing to anyone. I can’t understand how or why.
“They took every single packet of cigarettes, except one that fell on the floor, which they [the police] used for forensics. They emptied all the tobacco, all the vapes we had.
“They even robbed the scratchcards that we have not even activated, so they can’t use but they don’t know that. So I had to phone and inform Camelot.
‘Professional’
“It seemed to me they knew what they were looking for. They were so calm, so professional.
“They were here about 15 minutes.”
His cameras showed the thieves smashing a door at the back of the shop to gain entry. The men are then seen ransacking the shelves – including expensive brands on the top shelf such as Johnnie Walker, Glenfiddich and Glenmorangie.
“They took the whole lot,” he said. “They took five or six bottles of champagne. £80 a bottle.
“But the cheaper ones, they left.”
Around £600 of cash in damaged notes, old £1 coins and change was also taken. He said he often helped the Chinese takeaway next door and the Oakfield pub when they’re short of change.
The gang even emptied out a huge bag of customers’ parcels waiting for collection to use it to stash more stolen items.
A large black bag of soft plastics he had collected for recycling had also been emptied out so it could be used to take more items from the shelves.
Raza said: “I know everybody. I know hundreds of people. I cannot honestly imagine or think anybody who knows me would do that to me because I never done a bad thing. The amount of support from people here is unbelievable.”
Any information?
Please contact Gwent Police on 101, quoting 2600212749 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111if you have information. You can also contact the police on Facebook or X or via the ‘contact us’ form on the Gwent Police website.