Eight members of an organized criminal group, located in Tarn-et-Garonne, were arrested last Tuesday, the Bordeaux prosecutor’s office announced this Monday. They are suspected of a series of burglaries committed against optical businesses and tobacco shops in New Aquitaine and Occitanie.
The three main protagonists were indicted on Thursday on charges of organized gang theft as a repeat offender and participation in a criminal association, and were placed in pre-trial detention. The third, indicted on charges of receiving property from organized theft, laundering the proceeds of a theft committed by an organized gang and participation in a criminal association, was placed under judicial supervision.
Nocturnal journeys
Since last May, twenty-three aggravated thefts have been recorded following the preliminary investigation carried out under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Bordeaux. The damage, estimated at 180,000 euros, included hundreds of cartons of tobacco and sunglasses, in addition to five vehicles stolen by the perpetrators to commit the thefts during nighttime trips.
The investigation, carried out within the framework of a national unit which brought together different gendarmerie services from Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie, “made it possible to identify a team of individuals already known for similar acts, likely to be involved in these thefts” explains the public prosecutor of Bordeaux, Frédérique Porterie. “It also allowed the identification of accomplices concealing the stolen objects. »
A hundred gendarmes mobilized
On November 14, an operation involving 93 gendarmes, supported by three dog teams and the specialized protection platoon of the Golfech gendarmerie led to the arrest at their homes of seven of the eight accused, aged 30 to 49. . The eighth had been taken from the remand center where he is serving a sentence linked to another case.
During the searches, “investigators discovered numerous objects from the burglaries”. Two vehicles, firearms, narcotics and false documents were also seized. The investigation continues under the direction of the investigating judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Bordeaux.