A criminal gang consisting of several members that systematically committed home robberies in the wider Attica area has been dismantled by the Public Security Department of the Athens Security Sub-Directorate.
To dismantle it, on Monday afternoon, an operation was carried out in areas of Attica, during which 14 of the 24 identified gang members were arrested. Two of them are already in prisons.
At the same time, as part of the operation, 9 more people were arrested for – depending on the case – crimes of intimidation, verbal abuse, refusal to take fingerprints, disrupting the functioning of a service and violating the laws on weapons and drugs.
In fact, there was an outstanding arrest warrant against two of the detainees for their involvement in a shooting at a health facility in West Attica.
In particular, according to THEYBased on the preliminary investigation carried out and the appropriate use of the information, the action of a structured group was established, whose members acted in two operational subgroups, with each having a different composition, with their main activity in the Ilioupoli area and with the main objective of committing thefts in homes, from where they took sums of money and electronic devices.
As it emerged from the investigation, the gang members operated in a specific manner:
- they kept an eye on their potential target and ensured that the occupant was absent during the action
- They carefully planned their approach and escape route as they wanted to remain undetected
- their “commercial” vehicles were mostly rented, with two gang members acting as “middlemen”, making it difficult for authorities to locate the other “commercial” members
- They looked for easily accessible houses, whether on the ground floor or the 1st floor, thus ensuring that their objective would be achieved and
- They always wore gloves and covered their facial features to make the work of the police and magistrates more difficult.
The gang members had serious criminal records and years of experience in burglaries by breaking into aluminum doors and patio doors.
They almost always acted in a composition of four members and with different functions, because, even if they performed them with rotation of their members, the functions remained the same.
From the deepening of the investigation – preliminary investigation, identification of fingerprints by the Criminal Investigations Directorate, analysis of video material and other investigation methods, the involvement of the gang was certified and 121 thefts inside apartments were identified, namely:
- 92 in Ilioupoli
- 4 in Alimos
- of 3 in Glyfada and Boeotia
- of 2 in Peristeri, Keratsini, Agia Paraskevi, Haidari and Moschato-Tavros
- one each in Kallithea, Agios Dimitrios, Ilio, Agia Varvara, Kifisia, Nea Erythraia, Dafni, Piraeus and Neo Faliro.
The total financial benefit from the gang’s action is estimated to amount to 367,125 euros.
In total, searches carried out in homes and other places where stolen goods were stored, among others, resulted in the following being found and seized:
- 39 cell phones
- 6 weapons
- 287 cartridges
- 5 grams of possibly the drug cannabis
- 3 scales
- 3 tablets
- camera
- 2 folding knives
- electronic skateboard
- bendable metal rod (glob)
- hemp grater, with its remains
- 3 motorcycles and 7 cars. cars
- many valuables (watches, rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc.)
- 4,087 euros.
The detainees were forwarded to the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office, with charges against them for – depending on the case – crimes committed by the gang, whose members commit completed and attempted thefts of residences, as a profession and as a habit, as complicity and for following, in search of financial gain, the Law on Drugs and the Law on Weapons.
The police investigation continues to determine the full scope of this criminal gang and identify the others involved.