Several suspected members of an organized gang were arrested in Haute-Savoie at the beginning of last October by the French gendarmerie following a vast international investigation.
Among those arrested are the burglars who attacked the Post Office shop in Damvant four times and the Fahy service station shop three times, notes Chief Commissioner Sébastien Frund, replacement for the head of the Jura judicial police. . Members of the gang had also made an attempt at Miécourt.
Band based in Haute-Savoie
The group, based in Haute-Savoie, operated in French-speaking Switzerland, from Valais to the Jura via Geneva, he explains. Burglaries are also attributed to him on French territory. Originally from the Balkans, the thugs mainly stole tobacco and cigarettes, as well as the cash they found, notes the commissioner.
There were normally always four people on site during each burglary, he said. Border guards tried to arrest them at the end of September in Damvant, after the fourth burglary perpetrated at the Post Office shop. But the thugs were able to force the blockade, indicates Sébastien Frund.
Number of thieves not confirmed
The latter is not aware of the number of people involved. According to our information, there are around thirty of them. The Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken up the case for the burglaries committed on Swiss territory, the first cases having been perpetrated in this canton. However, he did not wish to give us details on the number of defendants, nor on any other aspect of the case, “the procedures being ongoing”.
As the burglars are not of French nationality, the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office could ask France for the extradition of all the members of the gang, suggests Sébastien Frund. Through the voice of Olivier Francey, media relations officer for the Geneva judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office tells us that this is not the case “as it stands”.
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