Eight suspects were indicted and imprisoned for around forty incidents of theft of GPS and agricultural tools in the Grand Est, AFP learned on Sunday April 11 from the Bar-le-Duc prosecutor's office which assesses "
this stage
”the damage to 400,000 euros.
Read also: Tractor GPS thefts, a new scourge of the countryside
Arrested Thursday, the eight individuals were referred and then indicted on Saturday for association of criminals and thefts by breaking and entering and meeting in places intended for the material warehouse, said the public prosecutor Sofian Saboulard.
In accordance with the prosecution's requisitions, they were all placed in pre-trial detention, the magistrate said in a statement.
The suspects "
most often acted at night with perfect knowledge of the area and a particularly well-honed organization
," he explained.
The goods were stolen "
for the purpose of resale or exit from the national territory to countries of Eastern Europe
", more particularly Romania, according to Sofian Saboulard.
The suspects are largely of Romanian nationality.
Read also: A vast Romanian tool theft network dismantled by the French gendarmerie
Significant means of investigation have been implemented ("
geolocation, markings, surveillance, shadowing, telephone interceptions
"), detailed the prosecutor.
GPS consoles, tools, license plate sets and phytosanitary products were notably discovered during searches, he added.
The investigations were conducted by the Central Office for the fight against itinerant delinquency and the research section of the Reims gendarmerie, with the support of the Observation and Surveillance Group and the GIGN branch of Reims, according to Sofian Saboulard.
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