They are suspected of having stolen luxury leather goods from the workshops of LVMH, Hermès and Chanel: nine people have been indicted, and seven of them imprisoned, AFP learned on Saturday from the gendarmerie and from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
In total, the amount of luxury items stolen “amounts to more than 3.5 million euros”, said the gendarmes. A total of eleven thefts, committed in Sarthe, Loir-et-Cher and Indre, are blamed on them.
Among the nine people indicted, in particular for “theft and concealment in an organized gang”, seven were placed in pre-trial detention and two under judicial supervision, said the Paris prosecutor’s office. They had been arrested on Monday and Tuesday in Yvelines, Val-d’Oise and Loiret.
Some, aged 25 to 35, are suspected of having committed the thefts, the others, aged 45-55, of being the receivers.
It is an “extremely professional team, which was going to strike far from its bases” to avoid being spotted, General Marc de Tarlé, head of the Central Office for the Fight against itinerant delinquency (OCLDI), in charge of the investigation, opened in August 2022, under the authority of Jirs-Junalco de Paris.
Their “attacks were very targeted, very fast, lasting around ten minutes”, added the general.
The criminals acted at night. “After attacking the perimeter walls, doors and security curtains of the clothing premises using professional tools”, they stole the leather goods “stored in the vaults”.
They used “big cylinder vehicles” and “stolen utilities”, which they then “destroyed”.
“Leather goods from burglaries”, 40,000 euros, nine vehicles, burglary equipment and GPS beacon detectors, were seized during searches, said the gendarmerie.
This article is originally published on arabnews.fr