They pretended to be police officers and pretended to control travel certificates to steal motorists: four people were arrested after having raged for several weeks in Ile-de-France, we learned Sunday from a police source.
Three men and a woman in their thirties were arrested Thursday in Noisy-le-Sec and Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) by investigators from the Seine-et-Marne departmental security. They have been placed in pre-trial detention, the director of this investigation service, Nathan Boher, told AFP. The group is to be judged on Monday for immediate appearance for "organized gang robbery".
"They targeted foreigners in particular"
The affair began on April 7 with the complaint filed by a Polish truck driver. The latter has just been arrested near Noisiel (Seine-et-Marne) by men who claim to be police, surgical mask on the face, supporting maps and badges. After the "control" and the search of his vehicle, the driver realizes that 1,500 euros were stolen from him. Investigators make the parallel with another theft - 3,000 euros - which was the victim the same day a Sri Lankan motorist in Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val-d'Oise).
Thanks to video surveillance, the police spot the vehicle of "false police" who continue to operate in Île-de-France and in the north of Paris. "They particularly targeted foreigners, certainly because they were likely to have cash, but also because they themselves did not speak French well," said Nathan Boher.
"It is a very mobile form of delinquency"
At their home in Saint-Denis, after the arrest of the alleged thieves, the investigators found 12,000 euros, luxury watches and jewelry. They also got hold of a document establishing accounts of more than 40,000 euros, certainly relating to these thefts.
While in police custody, only one of the four arrested admitted part of the facts. Among them, two are known in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany for theft. "It is a very mobile form of delinquency," said the head of the Seine-et-Marne departmental security.
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