New South Wales Police have identified 'African gangs' as responsible for a terrifying spate of robberies across Sydney.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones said Strike Force Arpen is working to find a group of Sudanese teens who have been targeting electronic stores in the city over the past month.

At least 20 stores, including JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee locations, have been hit by teenagers taking off with thousands of dollars in goods.

'We are talking about an organised gang of African thieves,' Assistant Commissioner Jones told The Daily Telegraph.

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New South Wales Police have identified 'African gangs' as responsible for a terrifying spate of robberies across Sydney. Pictured above is a group of up to 15 African teens during the alleged attempted robbery at an Optus store in Casula Mall

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones said police are working to track down a group of Sudanese teens who have been targeting electronic stores in the city over the past month

'We are not trying to downplay this in any way, shape or form.'

The comments come just days after detectives insisted Sydney was not facing the same African gang crisis as Melbourne.

On Sunday, Detective Chief Inspector Glyn Baker said he would not 'describe them as gangs'.

'I think it's very important that we don't draw any parallels whatsoever with what's happening in Melbourne. What we are dealing with here is a group of young African males who are committing criminal offences', he said.

But Jones says they are now calling 'it for what it is' - however, he emphasised the situation is not nearly as severe as Melbourne's gang issue.

Previously, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton refused to identify the city's problem as an 'African' gang crisis.

He had said the youth crime was not limited to one ethnic group, in an interview last year.

'We've certainly had a lot of young Africans, Australian kids offending as well, Islander kids, a lot of indigenous kids we're getting as well.'

Melbourne has been dealing with violence relating to African street gangs for years, with footage and images of brawling youths involved in crimes and brawls.

Ugly scenes involving African youths and the wider community have erupted on numerous occasions in Melbourne in the past months, with politicians slamming Victoria Police for a lack of action.

Four teenagers were arrested for allegedly stealing $15,000 worth of electrical goods from the electronic store at Taren Point in Sydney's south on Monday afternoon

Detective Chief Inspector Glyn Baker (pictured) said Sydney is not facing the same gang problems as Melbourne

Police said a gang which calls themselves the Blood Drill Killers were linked to numerous crimes in the city's west in recent months.

The gang is comprised of African-Australian boys aged between 14 to 17 and is a breakaway group with links to Apex and Menace to Society.

Meanwhile in Sydney, four teenagers were arrested for allegedly stealing $15,000 worth of electronics at a store in Taren Point in the city's south on Monday.

Four youths of African appearance aged 18, 17, and 16 were taken into custody, with one freed on bail.

In a separate incident, police arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly stealing a speaker from an electronic store in Hornsby, on Sydney's North Shore.

Ugly scenes involving African youths and the wider community have erupted on numerous occasions in Melbourne in the past months

Police are searching for another five men who are also described as being of 'African appearance'.

The arrests come after NSW Police announced they were stepping up their investigation into blitz-style robberies targeting electrical stores such as JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee across Sydney.

Police were called to six robberies in the past three days, including three on Saturday and one at Eastgardens in the eastern suburbs on Sunday.

SHOPS HIT WITH 'GRAB AND RUN' THEFT IN SYDNEY Six JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee stores were targeted by youths, stealing tens of thousands of electronics. Raids were conducted at JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee stores at Artarmon, Top Ryde, Castle Hill, Rhodes, Strathfield and Rouse Hill, Campbelltown, Carlingford, Chatswood, Artarmon, Burwood and East Gardens over the NSW holiday weekend. In April, a group of African teenagers stormed a Telco store in Casula and attempted to rob it. Ten African youths were arrested and charged in January over a series of assault and robberies on trains and near train stations in the Blacktown area. Advertisement

All the offenders are described as being of African appearance in all of the incidents.

It's understood thieves intimidated staff before taking off with popular items such as Apple watches, iPhones and MacBooks.

On Monday it was announced that Ryde Police will take the lead in the taskforce investigation into the recent robberies and urge anyone with information to come forward.

'Ryde detectives are working with investigators from the State Crime Command Robbery and Serious Crime Squad to identify, locate and arrest groups of offenders, responsible for a series of recent thefts, including three on Saturday at retail stores in Artarmon, Castle Hill and Top Ryde,' a NSW Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Officers are already gathering evidence including CCTV from each of the crime scenes.

'No-one was hurt in the latest incidents but police are concerned about the threat to public safety.'



