Thefts on construction sites: four suspects arrested thanks to Franco-Romanian cooperation

Only the surveyors' equipment interested them.

A group of Romanian burglars has just been dismantled, the Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday.

They are suspected of having committed numerous thefts of construction equipment in France for 1.3 million euros of damage.

“This organization was suspected of having committed a total of 17 burglaries to the detriment of surveyors' firms, committed in Normandy, Brittany and throughout the national territory, for a total damage of 1,300,000 euros, the latest facts having been committed on October 11 and 12, 2020 in the Loiret ”, indicated the Rennes public prosecutor, Philippe Astruc.

Police from Ploiesti and gendarmes from Caen

According to the prosecutor, a "vast operation of arrests, decided by the judicial authorities of the two countries", was launched on November 12th.

As part of this police cooperation, “four suspects, two men aged 32 and 43 and their accomplices, two women aged 37 and 62, settled in the region of Ploiesti (a city north of the Romanian capital Bucharest Editor's note) », Were arrested by the Romanian police in the presence of gendarmes from the Research Section of Caen (Calvados).

At the same time, the Romanian investigative services carried out 17 searches of the homes of receivers and "many materials stolen in France (were) discovered".

The four accused, wanted under European arrest warrants, were brought before the Ploiesti prosecutor.

The two main perpetrators were remanded in custody and the two women under judicial supervision pending their extradition to France.

Back and forth to sell their loot

According to prosecutor Astruc, the investigation had started after two burglaries, in September 2018, to the prejudice of companies specializing in the study and engineering of soils, in Verson (Calvados) and Bain-de-Bretagne (Ille-et- Ugly).

The stolen material, dedicated to the work of surveyors and soil analysis, was estimated at 260,000 euros.

Under the direction of the Rennes prosecutor's office, the preliminary investigation was entrusted to the Research Section of the Caen gendarmerie and to the Central Office for the fight against itinerant delinquency (OCLDI).

A judicial investigation had been opened in October 2019 "of the heads of associations of criminals, theft and concealment in organized gangs" and entrusted to an investigating magistrate of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Rennes.

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"The investigation was directed towards two Romanian nationals, known for similar facts, suspected of coming regularly to France to commit thefts before returning to Romania where they sold their booty with the help of their relatives", specifies the magistrate.