POLICE are launching a blitz on smash-and-grab car criminals in Newport after gangs were spotted targeting vehicles in the street.

Through high visibility patrols, undercover work and modern technology, Operation Billabong aims to combat car criminals in the Lliswerry and Maindee areas of Newport.

Gwent Police say thefts from cars are spiralling in the area with satellite navigation systems, mobile phones and stereo systems being stolen to order.

PC Sally Zerk, of Maindee police, said: "It's one of the main problems we've got at the moment.

"The main offenders are teenagers who are not going to school. They are bored and after easy money.

"This is not helped by the fact that people leave their property on display. It's easy picking and you see some gangs of kids just walking down the street and looking into cars to see what they can take."

Maindee sergeant Alun Davies said there has been a "noticeable increase" in vehicle crime fuelled mainly by expensive 'sat nav' systems, with Lliswerry and Victoria hardest hit.

He said: "Vehicles with high cost items are being targeted.

"Crime is down but vehicle crime is one of the areas where we are struggling to maintain reductions."

Operation Billabong will take place in Lliswerry, Alway, Victoria and through to Caerleon.

The three-month operation will see a concentration of uniform patrols in the areas affected, both day and night.

There will also be covert surveillance, and officers will revisit crimes to see if there's any additional evidence that may help identify offenders. A specialist team of officers is being set up to look at individual offenders and trace their associations with other criminals.

Sergeant Davies added: "There are individuals who are actively committing car crime in the Maindee and Alway area who we will be pursuing with all the measures we have.

The motivation is drugs, and by and large the individuals tend to be between the ages of 14-19."