One evening, Andri discovers the disappearance of his electric bike in front of his house. What the thieves didn’t know was that the man had installed a tracker. He was able to follow the route of his property and discovered a very strange store.
Raphael Karpf / ch media
Thursday April 26. Andri (not his real name) notices at the end of the day that his electric mountain bike has been stolen in front of his house. And this doesn’t come out of nowhere, no, it’s not amateurs, but a well-equipped team who are behind the theft. Andri quickly realizes this, because the big chain with which he attached his bike has been sawn off with a grinder.
The sawn padlock.Image: dr
What the thieves probably didn’t know is that Andri installed a tracker on his expensive two-wheeler. He then discovers that it is stored a few kilometers away. He goes to the place in question by car, but does not see his bike anywhere. It is probably in a garage, basement or van.
On Friday morning, Andri goes to the police station. He declares the crime and also talks about the tracker. And that’s when there was a misunderstanding. At least that’s what the press service of the cantonal police writes. In fact, the person at the counter would have assumed that it was not a question of live tracking, but of one-off location. As taking immediate action and intervening is of no use in this case, our man was simply informed on how to file a complaint, either online and against unknown persons.
Note that the police specify that – when reporting a theft – it is clear that if the bike can be tracked via live location, “the police intervene and take the necessary immediate measures”.
But not there. On Friday afternoon, Andri fills out the complaint online.
Heading east
Curious, on Saturday, he sees his bike moving east, via Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Kosovo to Albania, and its capital Tirana. Far from his accommodation located in Zuchwil (SO).
The tracker shows the route of the stolen bike.Image: dr
Andri zooms in on the location in Tirana on Google Maps. There he discovered a second-hand bicycle store, Dua Bicikleta, which notably sells electric bicycles.
The bike is located in this building in Tirana.Image: dr
If you take a closer look at the location on Google Maps, you will find a second-hand dealer there.Image: dr
And on closer inspection, it becomes hectic. On one of the bicycles for sale, there is still the sticker of the Solothurn bicycle dealer, Tropical. Its resale price: 1349 euros.
We wonder how a bike bearing the name of the Solothurn store Tropical ended up in Tirana…Image: dr
Around the same time, another bicycle was reported as stolen shortly before in a Solothurn Facebook group. And Andri discovers that it is offered in the same store for 1259 euros.
The bike, which was reported stolen in the Facebook group.Image: dr
And the bike for sale in Tirana. Look carefully at the position of the rear light…Image: dr
On the other hand, no traces (yet) of Andri’s bike on the second-hand store’s website.
Traffic in place for years
It seems that bicycles stolen in the Solothurn region are regularly resold in this shop. And this is not new. Florian Lüthi, director of the cantonal Greens party, already warned on Facebook in April 2020: “Stolen bikes from Switzerland”. Bikes stolen in Switzerland.
Indeed, as early as 2020, someone told in a Facebook group, this time from the Basel region, how he had collected his bike from Dua Bicikleta. Florian Lüthi read the post at the time and reacted by commenting on it.
More than surprised, Andri is above all angry. Annoyed that everyone knows where stolen bikes have been ending up for years in Solothurn and that no one is willing or able to stop it.
He expressed his frustration on the networks. The reactions multiplied. So much so that Andri felt a little under pressure. That’s why he doesn’t want his name to appear in the media. Since his post, dozens of other comments have appeared on the Tirana cycle merchant’s Facebook page, accusing him of receiving stolen goods. The photos of the bike with the “Tropical” sticker have since been removed there, as have those of the two-wheeler from the Facebook group.
The merchant doesn’t want to know anything
When we contact the store manager on Facebook, he is surprisingly talkative. He says he sells bicycles for a very diverse clientele, but denies any importation into Albania.
Does it carry out checks on the origin of its goods? No, but he explains that he keeps the contact details of his suppliers. If it can be proven that one of them was stolen, it will be returned.
And when we mention a particular model, for example that of the famous Facebook group, we are told that the seller who gave it to the store had himself bought it shortly before – in Durrës, a port town on the coast .
More than dubious business model
Dua Bicikleta’s business model is gradually taking shape. Cycles stolen in Switzerland arrive in Albania, sold to intermediaries who, in turn, have them resold by bicycle dealers for a percentage. The trader can say that he knows nothing, that he only sells for third parties. Stolen bikes turn into honestly earned money – as long as no one asks questions about where it came from.
Perhaps the merchant really does not know that he is participating in concealment and that his intentions are entirely noble. That he would even return stolen bikes, as he claims. But perhaps he also acts with full knowledge of the facts.
The fact that the “suppliers” do not try to sell such expensive items on their own, but only do so for a fee should ring a bell for the trader. One might come to the following conclusion: the only way this would be profitable for the person in question is if they didn’t pay very much for their bike – if they paid anything at all. But these are just guesses.
The manager indicates that the comments hurt him and caused image damage to his business. And he repeats: as soon as he receives the slightest proof of theft, he undertakes to return the bike in question. Andri doesn’t want to get into that game. For him, it’s just talk:
“I do not conclude anything with this type of interlocutor and I do not even communicate with them”
Political class questioned
And what will happen to the Tirana store? The cantonal police say that if they receive information regarding concealment abroad, they will report it to Interpol. The country concerned is then informed on a case-by-case basis of these supposedly illegal acts.
“The way in which this country intervenes is beyond the competence of a cantonal police force”
The police
Return to Switzerland. The president of the cantonal parliament, Marco Lupi, had meanwhile heard about the affair and telephoned Andri. He now wants the police to account for what exactly happened and what they did. Andri, for his part, is just happy that someone is taking charge of the problem. His insurance paid him compensation related to the incident.
The news in Switzerland is here
(Translated from German by Valentine Zenker)
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