TWO members of an organised gang of 'hugging mugging' criminals were arrested by gardai in an undercover operation in Dublin's city centre.

The Algerian nationals were busted within less than an hour of each other in South Richmond Street in the early hours of Sunday morning after a special investigation by officers based at Pearse Street Garda Station.

'Hugging mugging' is a relatively recent criminal phenomenon in which a victim is cuddled on the street by a seemingly very friendly stranger while in fact the criminal quickly picks their pockets without their knowledge.

The gangs also target drunken people who are passed out on the ground after drinking too much alcohol.

A senior source said: "Gardai are satisfied about the two arrests on Sunday morning – expect more arrests in the coming weekends. Gardai are determined to crack out this criminal activity.

"These two men were working separately and they have been involved in a spate of this type of crime."

Detectives have identified a gang of North African criminals based in the Rathmines area who have been targeting late night revellers as they make their way home after socialising mostly between the hours of 3am and 6am.

Separately as part of Operation Aughrim – the large scale investigation into street crime in the capital – a dozen Romanian criminals were arrested by gardai from Pearse Street Station for offences such as pick pocketing and theft in the city centre.

It is suspected that some of the criminals flew into Dublin specifically at the weekend with events such as the Liverpool versus Celtic game and the All Ireland hurling semi-final meaning that it was busy weekend in the capital.

In one case, a Romanian national who had only arrived in Dublin from France on Saturday morning was arrested just a couple of hours later when he stole a smartphone from a member of the public in the St Stephen's Green area.

A source revealed that he became violent when arrested and back-up had to be called in when he assaulted the arresting garda officer who sustained minor injuries.

Over 1,100 people have been arrested as part of Operation Aughrim in the past year – including a staggering 610 different Romanian nationals.

kfoy@herald.ie