Anti-organised crime prosecutors detain 25 persons in international robberies from moving trucks

The prosecutors of the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) detained 25 crime group members on charges of robbing moving trucks; the robberies were committed both in Romania and in other EU states.

The investigators conducted on Monday 73 home searches in Bucharest and the Ilfov, Arges, Prahova, Teleorman and Ialomita counties, 18 of which under a European warrant issued by France; the authorities seized 100 mobile terminals, 200 perfumes of various brands and other cosmetics, more than 300 pairs of footwear, about 400 new clothing items, laptops and sunglasses, 3 luxury cars, 5 guns the licenses of which are being checked, battery chainsaws, white weapons for which indications exist that they might have been used to commit crimes, walkie talkies, as well as about 20,000 lei.

The 25 defendants were due to be brought before the Bucharest Court on Tuesday with a proposal for a 30-day remand period.

DIICOT argues that five organized crime groups were formed in Romania between 2016 - 2018, which engaged in robbing goods of significant value from trucks rolling on public roads, both in Romania and in several European states - Belgium, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain.

The prosecutors determined that for their criminal activities the suspects were using fast cars of foreign origin, mainly 7 or 8-seat vans or utility vehicles with powerful engines and equipped with sunroof - an absolutely necessary feature, as the robbers drove close to the moving HGVs with the headlights off and then climbed into the trucks to steal from the load inside and then make a fast escape.

Secured with straps or harnesses, the robbers jumped from their cars on the moving truck doors, cut the locks or forced the locking systems and once inside, grabbed the goods and threw them through the open sunroof in the criminal vehicle rolling at the side of the truck.

Other criminal vehicles were driving all at the same speed at a considerable distance behind the truck train so as to not allow other cars to get close to the robbers as they broke into the trailers.

Sometimes, when required, one of these cars collected the stolen goods tossed from the truck and subsequently transported them to a temporary storage place.

Following the extensive criminal investigation by DIICOT, criminal investigation was ordered against 47 suspects, and criminal investigation was initiated against 24 suspects under a European warrant issued by the Paris Judicial Court; 10 of the latter group have already been arrested by the French authorities.