One of the leaders of the Limburg Park City gang had access to an encrypted phone after his conviction in prison. Romano M. (25) from Heerlen communicated via EncroChat with people outside the walls about drug trafficking and car thefts. M. was currently serving a five-year prison sentence.
M. was convicted in 2019 for his part in the Park City Gang and was after his conviction for months in the PI in Sittard. He had managed to smuggle in a cryptotelephone.
Contraband in prison
L1 discovered last year that in the PI in Sittard on a large scale drugs and phones ended up with prisoners. In december last year, police arrested a prison employee on suspicion of smuggling drugs and phones.
M. chatted with his phone “freely about drug trafficking and stealing cars,” reports L1. He pointed out to others expensive cars that were for sale and could possibly be stolen.
The Heerlenaar had meanwhile appealed against his years in prison. The court suspended M.’s detention pending his appeal. That serves in May.
The Limburger picked up the thread again after his provisional release. Only he did not know that by 2020, Investigative Services had managed to crack his previous encrypted messages.
New case against M.
Whether the tips that M. gave via EncroChat in prison actually led to criminal offenses, Justice has not yet been able to prove.
However, since Romano M. was released, dna of him has been found in a stolen Audi RS3. Heerlenaar was also arrested for this, but the judge did not consider this sufficient to keep him in remand.
The Park City Gang committed house burglaries and car thefts in the Heerlen and Brunssum region for years and was engaged in healing and money laundering. In 2017, the gang was rolled up.
Together with his brother Marciano (20) and co-suspects Bob P. (20), Tevon de B. (21) and Justin De H. (28), Romano M. is now suspected of stealing and healing cars and forming a criminal organization.
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