Nach Einbrüchen in Wien: Internationale Rambockbande von Wiener Polizei zerschlagen

The perpetrators always stole a car to break into the shops and clean them out. “They accepted alarm systems and video recordings,” says Günter Steinwendtner, deputy head of the Central Branch of the State Criminal Police Office in Vienna. After each coup, they changed the car and sold the loot abroad.

Initially, despite the massive deployment of personnel, the police could not find a starting point to advance the investigations. It wasn’t until they discovered one of the stolen goods on a Serbian platform – a sort of “Willhaben” – that they had a lead. They contacted the Serbian authorities, who then supported the investigations. In addition, officers found a recording during last weeks video combing of two men canvassing a store shortly before the robbery.

Through close cooperation with the Serbian police, who were familiar with the suspects, the police were able to locate and observe the men. “They became careless,” said investigators Andreas Tiroch (central branch of the LKA Vienna) and Klaus Atischer (Federal Criminal Police Office). Just before a new murder, the officers struck: on June 28, three suspects were arrested by the special operations group Cobra in Vienna, another accomplice was caught trying to leave for Slovenia.

During house searches in Serbia, numerous stolen goods were found in very good condition so that they could be returned to the victims in Vienna. Two suspects are still on the run and wanted on a European Arrest Warrant. The gang is now accused of nine burglaries in Vienna and one in Hamburg.

The Austrian authorities particularly emphasized the good cooperation of the various actors. “It was a prime example of how international policing should be done,” says Petra Huber-Lintner, head of the General Crime Bureau of the Federal Criminal Police Office.

In early December, the trial against the gang took place at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. The main perpetrator was sentenced to six and a half years of unconditional imprisonment, two other defendants were sentenced to four and four and a half years of unconditional imprisonment respectively. One defendant, who was not involved in all the offences, escaped with a partially suspended 20-month sentence. According to a spokesperson for the Regional Criminal Court, all verdicts are legally binding.

This article was automatically translated, read the original article here.