More than 330,000 euros of jewelry stolen during numerous burglaries committed in Occitania and New Aquitaine are said to have passed through their pharmacies.
Two jewelers from Montauban, specializing in the purchase of gold, with a storefront in the city center, as well as a Belgian jeweler, were arrested and imprisoned this weekend.
They are all three at the head of a jewelry stash chain between Montauban and Belgium.
A dozen other arrests also took place. It would be Russian, Slovak, Romanian and Albanian nationals suspected of having made more than 33 trips between Montauban and Belgium since April 2018, to sell the spoils of burglaries.
Last May, 5 Albanian nationals suspected of having committed 80 burglaries in the region and supplying the jewelers of Montauban had already been arrested.
It is within the framework of a letter rogatory delivered by an examining magistrate of Pau for “theft and stolen goods committed in organized gang, aggravated laundering and non justification of resources” that this vast catch of net took place.
This judicial police operation mobilized 110 gendarmes at the beginning of the week, notably those from the Toulouse research section and the central office to combat itinerant delinquency.
During the searches carried out in New Aquitaine and Occitania, the investigators got hold of more than 300 jewels, a silver ingot, gold coins as well as 14,360 euros in cash and 26,665 eruros in bank accounts.
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