Two Romanian men were yesterday charged with stealing 17 mobile phones and a tablet from unsuspecting passengers on buses over the past month.

Cezar Mihalache, 53, and Ionel Mihailovici, 58, pleaded not guilty to stealing the phones, the tablet and other items from various parts of the island between July 4 and 24.

Mr Mihailovici was also charged with theft from Sliema and relapsing.

The two men were charged together with a Romanian woman, Ana Iancu, 52, who admitted to handling stolen property and was given a 13-month jail term suspended for two years.

Sources said the three were arrested at Pace Guest House, in Sliema, after the police were tipped off that pickpockets were targeting bus passengers. Plainclothes policemen boarded several buses as part of investigations that led to the arrest of the three Romanians.

In a similar case on Wednesday, a magistrate heard how plainclothes policemen waited on bus stops and travelled on buses in an attempt to curb pickpocketing. This led to the arrest of Asya Georgieva Stancheva, 19, when the officers spotted her opening a woman’s handbag as she was alighting from a bus close to the Preluna Hotel, in Sliema. The girl was jailed for one month.

Police Inspectors Jonathan Ransely and Jason Sultana were the prosecuting officers.