BABY formula has become so precious in Australia that groups of men — dressed as tradies — are raiding stores and stealing up to 10 tins in one hit.

Professional thief catcher Shane Windred has captured the brazen acts on CCTV in stores across Sydney and said he believes those caught taking the tins are flogging them on the black market for hundreds of dollars.

In the images, several men can be seen stashing baby formula in gym bags or even just running off with shopping baskets filled with the highly sought-after product.

NSW Police told news.com.au it is investigating the incidents which took place at a supermarket at Breakfast Point, in Sydney’s inner-west in July.

Mr Windred believes it could be part of an organised black market operation. He said the formula has become so precious, thieves in Australia are now shipping tonnes to lucrative international buyers for a high profit.

He told Channel 7 he observed 10 tins worth $300 being stolen in just 20 minutes from a store in Concord in Sydney’s inner west.

Police were then led to a 7m container “full to the brim” with the product, Mr Windred said.

“Shoplifters like these thieves don’t want one or two tins — they want 30 tins in one hit,” he said.

More videos shared by the thief catcher show attempts to steal baby formula tins at a Lloyds IGA. It shows potential thieves being chased down by staff members and another man dumping his haul on the floor after being spooked.

The raids come after years of highly sought-after brands such as A2, Bellamy’s and Aptamil being stripped from shelves by “daigou”, or personal shoppers, who resell the products to customers in China at inflated prices.

Some daigou can make more than $100,000 a year selling baby formula, vitamins, Weet-Bix and other popular Australian products on social media platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, and through Alibaba’s online shopping sites Tmall Global and Taobao.

In 2017, digital marketer Benjamin Sun from Think China estimated there were around 80,000 daigou plying their trade in Australia — up from 40,000 in 2014.

Aussie stores have faced consistent complaints from angry parents about bulk-buying techniques — which have led to shoppers stripping shelves, filling trolleys and car boots and even scrapping in supermarket aisles to stock up on baby formula tins.

The dramatic incidents have regularly generated outrage on social media and, in the past 12 months, both Coles and Woolworths have taken action to try to prevent the practice.

Woolworths announced in October 2017 it was introducing a stricter limit in order to give all customers a fair chance.

“At Woolworths, we understand the frustration that our customers can feel when they can’t get the products they need and this is another example where we’ve taken action to do the right thing,” merchandise manager James Hepworth said.

“This is particularly the case when it comes to family necessities such as baby formula.”

Coles also took action in July by enforcing purchase limits on the precious formula.

“Coles is committed to ensuring our customers have access to the volume of infant formula they require to feed their children,” a spokeswoman said.

“Due to recent improvements in supply, we have lifted our sales restrictions on infant formula to eight units per customer.”

A spokeswoman for NSW Police told news.com.au officers in Burwood are investigating two incidents at Breakfast Point on July 14 and July 24 in relation to the footage.