Five people have been arrested and charged after a spate of housebreakings in and around Glasgow.

After receiving 17 reports of break-ins between January 3 and 14, cops launched Operation Virion, a national operation to investigate the thefts of high-value gold jewellery and cash at homes in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire.

After obtaining a warrant for a property in West Kilbride, officers arrested and charged five men, aged 28, 27, 26, 23 and 22, on Tuesday, January 17. 

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They will appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Thursday, January 19. 

Detective Inspector Gary Cassidy, from the Community Investigation Unit in Govan, said: “Whenever someone’s home is broken into, the impact on the householder, their families and the local community is significant.

“High-value thefts by housebreaking targeting of domestic properties for family valuables such as jewellery and cash is not a new phenomenon.

"Those who commit such crimes are not bound by geographical boundaries and as such Operation Virion was set up as a coordinated national approach to address these types of incidents.

“The dedicated team of officers deployed to Operation Virion help ensure that Police Scotland is in a position to respond effectively to investigate any incidents which do occur anywhere in the country to bring those responsible to justice as well as working with partner agencies to prevent and minimise the risk to people in our communities.

“We are determined to disrupt the activity of individuals and groups involved in these types of incidents and will do everything in our power to bring those involved to justice.”

Police Scotland can be contacted via 101 or an anonymous report can be made to the charity Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.