Eight alleged members of a network of mobile phone thieves, suspected of forty facts for around 1 million euros in damage, were arrested in Marseille and presented to an investigating judge, AFP learned on Friday February 4 from a police source.
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About forty acts of "
thefts by the wayside or with violence
", committed between November 2018 and May 2021 mainly in the West and South-West, are attributed to this network which "
radiated throughout France from Marseille
" and operated with "
teams of drawers
", according to the Angers judicial police in charge of the investigation.
The members of this network targeted delivery people during the day to steal their goods, mainly mobile phones but also restaurant tickets.
Twenty transport companies, victims of theft, have been identified, according to the PJ of Angers.
“Real Raids”
“
They were committing real raids.
They were leaving for the rest of the week from Marseille for Le Mans, Nantes, Rennes, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Anglet, Mulhouse
“and returned to Marseille to sell the goods there, Franck Hemery told AFP divisional police commissioner. court of Angers.
Started in Saumur (Maine-et-Loire) in June 2020, the preliminary investigation had made it possible to identify three individuals who had stolen 33,000 euros worth of mobile phones which were to be delivered to a shop in a shopping center.
After 18 months of investigation, eight individuals were arrested Monday morning in Marseille, with the help of the Interministerial Research Group (GIR) of Nantes and the judicial police of Marseille.
Prosecuted for "
cargo theft in an organized gang
", the eight suspects, aged 25 to 35, were presented to the Draguignan investigating judge, and seven of them were imprisoned.
Several are known for drug trafficking, extortion aggravated robbery.
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The damage is of the order of one million euros, consisting mainly of stolen mobile phones and meal tickets, according to the police.
Some 200,000 euros were also seized in cash and in bank accounts.
The investigation, carried out jointly by the PJ of Angers, the GIR of Pays de la Loire, and the public security of Draguignan (Var), continues.
