The trend of pickpocketing is slowly making its way into the young crowd of Solomon Islands.
An area of target is at Honiara's Central Market where police say a ring of pickpockets have been moving around for some time.Solomon Times was informed that the group consists of youths with age ranging between 8-12 years old.
"We have made quite a number of arrests over the past few months and try to be on top of the new trend," the central market officers said.
Police having realized the trend have moved around the market in the guise of buyers in the crowd in order to tap the roaming pickpockets.
It has been noted that the group specifically make their rounds starting Thursdays through to Saturdays around the market.
Police state that it is often hard to keep tab of the troublemakers among the often very busy area.
The group is said to be moving in pairs where the first will fall against the victim while the second then picks the victim's pocket or bag.
"These are young children who don't have a specific target, just pickpocket random and take any valuables they can place their hands on."
Police said that juveniles caught and later released almost immediately get back in the game.
They concluded that the solution to curb the rise of pickpockets is to impose strong penalties on juveniles involved.