They have carried out dozens of thefts in shopping centers all over Italy, especially in the “H&M” stores.

The mobile squad of the Pordenone Police Headquarters arrested two women and three men, all of Albanian nationality: each time they arrived from Albania, rented a car, stole and then returned to their country. The arrests and detentions were validated by the investigating judge at the Court of Pordenone. Goods worth around 8 thousand euros were also seized, the proceeds of theft.

The investigations began after H&M reported a series of clothing thefts in the Gran Fiume store in Pordenone. Through wiretapping and cell traffic analysis, the gang dedicated to the so-called "criminal transfer" was identified.

From September to December and only in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto, at least 14 thefts were committed, some during the same day. But other regions were also targeted. According to what was reconstructed by the men of the Pordenone Police Headquarters directed by the Police Commissioner Marco Odorisio, the modus operandi was this: the two women entered the shops and, having taken off the clothes from the hangers, hid them among the shelves where two men recovered them by putting them in shopping trolleys equipped with anti-theft devices. The third man served as a stake outside.

Investigations are underway to identify the channels for receiving the goods, probably destined abroad. The five were arrested in the act of crime in the l'Adriatico 2 shopping center in Portogruaro for improper robbery. They were closed in the prison houses of Padua, Verona and Venice.

(Unioneonline / D)