Trojan operation: a gang specializing in thefts in northern Italy is cleared of the police
The Trento State Police, in collaboration with the Romanian police, and coordinated by the Prosecutor of the Republic of the Trentino capital, arrested 7 subjects, including four domiciled in Romania and recipients of a European arrest warrant, all originating from different locations in the same Romania, because they belong to a gang specializing in thefts in northern Italy, of valuable objects, including designer clothing, of well-known Italian brands, for a value of 130.000 euros, electric bicycles, mountain bike model, for the amount of 60.000 euros and souvenirs for a total of 5.000 euros.
The investigations of the policemen of the mobile team were started following a theft, which took place in Vermiglio in the province of Trento, of about 20 e-bikes, stolen from the rental point, located inside a well-known hotel in the area.
The investigations made it possible to trace a basist, the chef of the same hotel, who on the night of 11 March 2019 helped some of his countrymen to enter the bicycle depot, evading the alarm systems and thus allowing his accomplices to be able to act undisturbed. Once inside, the gang picked up the bicycles with the pedal assistance of the rental point and loaded them onto a van, heading towards the Slovenian border.
Investigative activities focused first on the meticulous reconstruction of the various stages of theft. The images of the hotel video surveillance system were taken, as well as the speed detection systems located along the route from Vermiglio to Trento and from here, once on the highway, along the Serenissima highway (A4) towards Trieste . Thanks to the extrapolated frames, it was possible to reconstruct that the thieves, once they took possession of the stolen goods, headed towards the border with Slovenia and from here to Romania, escorted by a small car used as a relay to warn of any checkpoints along the way. by the State Police.
The way the bicycles were stolen immediately made us think that it was a well organized gang and not an extemporaneous group.
The hypothesis became immediately credible, when two further thefts committed by the criminal group in northern Italy were reconstructed in the course of the investigations; one always in the province of Trento and the other in Varese. In both cases, valuable goods were stolen.
On the night between 24 and 25 February, the gang broke into a souvenir shop in Passo del Tonale, stealing goods for a value of 5000 euros. Subsequently, in May, the group forced the alarm systems of a clothing store in Lonate Pozzolo, in the province of Varese, taking away designer clothing and accessories from two well-known Italian brands, for a value of about 130.000 EUR.
Once stolen, the goods were brought to Romania and stored at a warehouse in the city of Oradea, about 400 km from the capital Bucharest, to be resold via the internet, through private advertisements on search engines affixed, at advantageous prices compared to those of market.
One of the victims, the owner of the Vermiglio e-bike rental point, browsing a web community of cycling enthusiasts, recognized one of the stolen bicycles in an announcement, signaling the insertion to the Trento Mobile Team.
Subsequent investigations, also in collaboration with the Romanian Police Forces, made it possible to locate the warehouse of the goods in the city of Oradea, making it possible to collect further clues from the disarticulated team in the morning today.