They are regulars of thefts. A team of criminals has been dismantled in the Drôme, suspected in particular of having ravaged orchards using tractors stolen then burned, announces Friday the local gendarmerie.
Eight people were arrested Monday morning by 80 men from the Departmental Group and placed in police custody for a series of gang robberies organized between June and December 2019.
Two people were exonerated and two were referred Friday to the judicial court of Valence, one being imprisoned and the other placed under judicial control. The other four suspects will appear on August 20 in connection with a summons by the judicial police officer (COPJ).
“Free” acts of destruction
The most serious acts of which they are accused were committed on May 26, 2019: several people had then fractured agricultural sheds in Portes-lès-Valence and Beauvallon, stealing four tractors to embark on a nocturnal journey. After having devastated orchards and cultivated fields in three communes, the vehicles had been burned, for a total damage estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 euros.
Squadron chief Thierry Chopard mentions "acts of free destruction" on the part of suspects aged between 20 and 50 years. Other thefts had been committed in an animal pound in Valence and municipal workshops in Bourg-les-Valence, as well as in private homes, according to the same source.
