An official of the judicial police.

(illustration) -

SYSPEO / SIPA

BRI police officers arrested four men in Lyon suspected of having robbed a truck carrying cigarettes on Tuesday in Vienne (Isère), learns

20 minutes

from sources familiar with the matter.

The suspects were indicted on Friday on charges of "destruction of property by dangerous means", "aggravated theft" and "criminal association" by a judge in Vienna and placed in pre-trial detention.

The damage is estimated at several hundred thousand euros.

The facts took place around 7 am, in the district of Estressin.

A thief walked up to the delivery men, entered the cabin and, under threat of a concealed object, asked them to follow an Audi A3 in which he had arrived.

Further on, along the A7, the vehicles stopped near a utility waiting for them.

After emptying part of the contents of the truck, the robbers set it on fire and fled, leaving the two drivers on the ground.

A commodity that generates "a lot of money very quickly"

Later in the morning, a device was set up by the BRI in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon.

The police have indeed noticed several people carrying "fairly large bags" in this district called "Republican reconquest", indicates a police source.

At around 2 pm, they arrested two men who were unloading boxes from a utility vehicle and two others who were in an SUV to "secure the area to ensure the absence of police officers… It was a failure!"

"

About 100 cartons of cigarettes from the robbery were discovered.

The four suspects, aged 20 to 25 and already known to the police, were taken into custody.

During the following night, a large quantity of cigarettes was discovered in garbage cans on rue du Professor Beauvisage, "abandoned following arrests", continues this source.

The suspects denied their involvement in the incident, although the key to the Audi that was used in the robbery was found in the SUV.

“Lyon is one of the areas in France where we still regularly have fairly significant freight thefts,” explains this investigator.

Cigarettes are particularly popular because they generate "a lot of money very quickly" and are "easily disposable".

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  • Lyon

  • Miscellaneous

  • Criminality

  • Cigarette

  • Delinquency

  • Federal police

  • Robbery

  • Lyon miscellaneous facts

  • Police