Members of the police force arrested five youths who allegedly stole from warehouses around the Marsa area, seemingly as they prepared to do the same thing.

In a statement, the police said that it was told at around 1am that some suspicious men had been spotted around the warehouses at Moll tal-Hatab in Marsa.

Police from the Rapid Intervention Unit went on site, and in a room within the warehouse complex found and arrested five men aged between 19 and 26.

The men were dressed in dark colours and wearing gloves, police said.

On site, police also found fresh marks indicating that two warehouses had been forced open, and also found two large bolt cutters.

Investigations by the Hamrun district police resulted that the same men had allegedly stole from the same warehouses some days prior.

The men are expected to be charged before duty magistrate Ian Farrugia on Sunday morning.