Three people, suspected of theft or concealment of 26 competition racing pigeons, stolen from a pigeon fancier Belgian, were arrested on Monday morning at the Netherlands, Dutch police said.
The pigeons could have been destined for a new owner in Ukraine, said in a statement the police who suspect the suspects, from the Netherlands and Ukraine, of engaging in “mobile banditry”.
“When checking a vehicle on the A16 (motorway) near Moerdijk (south), the officers saw the pigeons in a basket, in addition to the three occupants”, said the police.
The suspects – a homeless man and woman from Ukraine and a Rotterdam native aged 47, 57 and 32 respectively – were arrested after telling an inconsistent story about the origin and destination of the pigeons, a she clarified.
The pigeons’ bands showed the animals were from Belgium, not Poland as the suspects said, and helped trace their owner, law enforcement said.
Return to Belgium
After telephone contact and a night check in his loft by the owner, it turned out that he was missing 26 racing pigeons.
The pigeons will find their loft in Belgium.
European elite pigeons have become increasingly popular around the world in recent years, especially in China where racing pigeon competitions can generate huge prize money.
Pigeon racing is a tradition rooted in Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France. It was considered to be in decline, before a renewed interest partly linked to these speculative purchases.
In 2020, a carrier pigeon from a Belgian breeding was sold at auction to a Chinese buyer for a record price of 1.6 million euros.
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