Bottrop/Bad Bentheim.
The police in Emsland have cleared up a long series of wheel thefts. The trail of the perpetrators leads to Bottrop, Gladbeck and Oberhausen.
A gang of Georgians living illegally in the Ruhr area blame the police in Emsland, Lower Saxony, for a long string of bicycle thefts. In the morning, police officers arrested six suspected members of the gang during raids in Bottrop, Gladbeck and Oberhausen.
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According to the Lower Saxony police, thefts of pedelecs and high-quality bicycles in the area of the Emsland/Grafschaft Bentheim police station have increased since April 2022. The perpetrators stole pedelecs and other high-quality bicycles from garages and garden sheds. They were not deterred by closed doors.
The police have therefore set their permanent investigation group of the Central Criminal Service of the Police Inspectorate Emsland / Grafschaft Bentheim on the series. The victims sent the police numerous video recordings of the initially unknown perpetrators. After months of investigative work, along with extensive covert investigative measures, a large group of Georgian criminals from the Ruhr area could be located. The perpetrators, who were in Germany illegally, entered the Federal Republic solely for the purpose of committing criminal offences.
This group is currently charged with around 150 thefts. This resulted in theft damage in the six-digit range. In the area of responsibility of the investigative team responsible for the case, 58 crimes could be cleared up. Other well-known crime scenes are in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.
On Tuesday before the dew and day, 150 police officers carried out a major raid in several cities. Six suspects were arrested. In addition, several apartments and thieves’ bunkers in Oberhausen, Bottrop and Gladbeck were searched.
Two of the suspects were arrested red-handed during the night. Three other suspects were arrested in a large residential complex in Gladbeck-Brauck with the support of the local immigration office. A sixth perpetrator was arrested as part of a search.
Various pieces of evidence were secured: In Oberhausen, several bicycles that are believed to have come from criminal offenses were seized. A murder vehicle was also secured and is being investigated. The evaluation of the findings from the search measure is ongoing.
The district court in Osnabrück issued arrest warrants against five suspects. These could be enforced during the search measures. The accused are in custody. Another provisionally arrested suspect was initially released from the police measure. In addition, five other gang members are wanted with arrest warrants.
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