The value of their loot amounted to more than four million euros per year.
Eleven people were indicted and seven of them placed in pre-trial detention for theft of spirits from supermarkets throughout France, the national gendarmerie announced in a press release.
The legal operation was carried out by the Departmental Gendarmerie Group (GGD) of Indre-et-Loire.
The team specializing in these spirits thefts operated “across the entire national territory” and “carried out several thefts per week” for “total damage (which) is estimated at more than four million euros in one year”, according to the press release, released Friday.
#BellesAffaires 🔎Congratulations to the gendarmes of @Gendarmerie_037 who enabled the dismantling of spirits theft trafficking!
👏
👉 Damage estimated at more than 4 million euros in 1 year
👉 Seizure of 💶, 🚗, ⌚️and 💎
👉 11 individuals indicted pic.twitter.com/3Sg3yXl2xC
— National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) March 17, 2024
The investigation started from the theft of 44 bottles of alcohol in a hypermarket in Chambray-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire) in March 2023. Committed in other regions, acts of the same nature with a similar modus operandi were then listed, led by Romanian nationals organized into three very mobile teams.
These three teams “pool their resources and vehicles to commit the thefts.
A concealment route to Romania has also been identified,” according to the gendarmerie.
Watches and diamonds seized
Last Tuesday, "nine people belonging to three teams of thieves and two receivers were arrested simultaneously in Nantes, Cenon (Gironde), Rosny-sur-Seine (Val-d'Oise) and Paris".
“The searches carried out allowed the seizure of alcohol (more than a hundred bottles), cash including 25,000 euros, three vehicles, watches, game consoles and accessories, diamonds, telephones, computers and cigarettes,” specifies the gendarmerie.
In addition to the seven people sent to pre-trial detention out of the eleven indicted, two were placed under judicial supervision, and the fate of the last two was not specified.
In one year, recalls the gendarmerie, this is the second operation carried out by the Indre-et-Loire gendarmerie group on theft of spirits.
In August 2023, “teams of thieves and fences particularly active in Tours” were dismantled.