They had scoured cemeteries in 2023 in Franche-Comté and Alsace. A network of looters has just been dismantled by the national gendarmerie. More than 310 victims had been recorded.
The prison box for three men while awaiting their trial, these are three suspects of Romanian nationality. They were placed in pre-trial detention, the National Gendarmerie announced this Wednesday April 24 in a press release seen by Agence France Presse.
“In total, more than 310 victims have been identified and 270 have already filed a complaint” specifies the general direction of the National Gendarmerie. The criminals had been active since the end of last July in cemeteries in Haut-Rhin, but also in neighboring departments: Doubs, Vosges, Territoire de Belfort, Haute-Saône.
Several municipalities were the subject of these metal thefts reported in the press. In Doubs, 9 victims came forward at the end of August 2023 in the Montbéliard and Haut-Doubs sectors, the Doubs gendarmerie told France 3 Franche-Comté.
In August 2023, in the press, we could read that the small town of Melisey in Haute-Saône had also received a visit from unscrupulous looters.
“It hurts people”then regretted Mayor Régis Pinot, mayor of the town. “I went to visit a little lady who had the virgin stolen from the grave of her daughter, who died 40 years ago. It’s terrible”. The damage is more sentimental than pecuniary, he explained to France 3. Thefts also affected the cemetery intercommunal of La Neuvelle-lès-Lure.
The gendarmerie investigators ended up resuming the investigation and identifying the culprits. Only stolen items containing metal were kept. The metal extracted from the stolen objects was then resold in Germany.
An operation launched on April 16 led to the arrest of four Romanian suspects, adults and unknown to the courts. They were presented to the Mulhouse judicial court. Three of the suspects were remanded in custody awaiting trial.
The three men are being prosecuted for theft by an organized gang, damage committed in a meeting, violation of graves, criminal association and money laundering.
