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Police chiefs are reporting significant progress in their battle against shoplifting epidemic, thanks to the newly established centralised police unit - Operation Opal. Launched earlier this year, Operation Opal is the national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime. The team collects evidence from CCTV footage, crime reports and other sources from all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Police chiefs believe that unit is starting to "turn the tide" against prolific shoplifters who are used by organised crime groups to steal goods en masse, The Times reported. The Operation Opal team has already identified 152 prolific people involved in organised retail crime within the first three months of the operation. Among those identified was Alexandru-Iulian Dima, a 25-year-old Romanian man who arrived in the UK last year.