Burglars target cash, cigarettes

BREAK-IN: The Opaki Mini Mart in Masterton was hit yesterday.

Burglars grabbed cigarettes and cash during a "professional" type of break-in at a Masterton dairy.

Three burglars raided the Opaki Mini Mart on the corner of First St and Opaki Rd early yesterday.

Dairy owner Kishor Maisuria said he was angered by the break-in, which had been the most serious in the six years he had operated the business.

"They are making our jobs very hard, at the end of the day we are losing everything ... we are losing money," Mr Maisuria said.

About $300 in cash was stolen, the cigarette cabinet had been smashed and an unknown number of cigarettes taken.

"It was strange. I got a phone call from security and I came down here and it was gone."

The alarm had been activated and the trio spent only a minute or so in the store, he said.

The burglars pulled off a door to get into the store in what seemed quite a professional operation, Mr Maisuria said.

From the CCTV footage, the burglars appeared to be solidly built middle-aged men, wearing white hoodies.

Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton said it was unusual for burglars to get away with anything of value these days, because most dairies in the district no longer stored valuable items on the premises: "Most of the dairies are removing cigarettes and cash and storing them in a secure place somewhere else."

Police were reviewing the CCTV footage and would examine the scene, Mr Sutton said.