Three men specializing in "
home-jacking
", suspected of having used a drone to steal twenty high-end cars on the Normandy coast, were arrested in mid-December and will be tried on January 14, AFP learned on Thursday. January 6 with the gendarmerie.
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Home
-jacking
consists of burglary of a home in the presence of the occupants with the aim, in general, of stealing the keys of the car in order to steal it without breaking and entering.
The gendarmes of the research section (SR) of Caen, seized of the investigation from October, were able to attribute to this team "
24 thefts of high-end vehicles, mainly large German cars, in particular of the Audi brand
" , in just a few weeks until his arrest on December 14, according to a press release from the gendarmerie.
In total, the damage is assessed at more than 600,000 euros.
"Vehicles stolen for criminal purposes"
Physical surveillance and study of telephone boundaries allowed investigators to trace back to the trio, men from Honfleur and aged in their twenties. The criminals, who raged at night in Eure and Calvados, especially in the upscale towns of the Côte Fleurie such as Deauville and Honfleur, are "
likely to have used a drone to locate certain properties
", according to the gendarmerie. "
This is an element that we captured at the beginning, but we could not demonstrate it because we did not find any drones
" at the home of the criminals, underlines to AFP a source close to the 'investigation. "
The stolen vehicles were used to fulfill orders for vehicles stolen for criminal purposes for an organized gang in Rouen with which the accused had close ties
, ”reports the gendarmerie.
At least one of the stolen vehicles was spotted by the Rouen police, confirms the source close to the investigation.
The two most active members of the team, "
very unfavorably known
" to justice for similar facts, were remanded in custody before their trial on January 14.
The third, suspected of being involved in the last few flights only, has been placed under judicial supervision.