The perpetrators always stole a car to break into stores and clear them out. "They accepted alarm systems and video recordings," says Günter Steinwendtner, deputy head of the Vienna State Criminal Police Office Central Branch. After each coup, they changed the car and sold the loot abroad.

Goods Stolen by Battering Ram Gang Discovered on Serbian Platform

Initially, despite a massive deployment of personnel, the police found no starting point to advance the investigations. Only when they discovered one of the stolen goods on a Serbian platform - a kind of "Willhaben" - did they have a lead. They contacted the Serbian authorities, who then supported the investigations. In addition, the officers found a recording in the weeks-long combing through the videos, in which two men scouted a store a short time before the robbery.

Through close cooperation with the Serbian police, who were familiar with the suspects, the police were able to locate and observe the men. "They became careless," said investigators Andreas Tiroch (LKA Vienna Central Branch) and Klaus Autischer (Federal Criminal Police Office). Just before another crime, the officers struck: On June 28, three suspects were arrested by the Cobra special operations group in Vienna, another accomplice was caught trying to leave for Slovenia.

Smashing of Battering Ram Gang "Parade Example" for International Cooperation

During the house searches in Serbia, numerous stolen goods were found in very good condition, so they could be returned to the victims in Vienna. Two suspects are still on the run and are being sought by European arrest warrant. The gang is now being charged with nine burglaries in Vienna and one burglary in Hamburg.

The Austrian authorities particularly emphasised the good cooperation of the various players. "It was a prime example of how international police work should be done," says Petra Huber-Lintner, head of the Office for General Crime at the Federal Criminal Police Office.

In early December, the trial against the gang took place at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. The main perpetrator was sentenced to six and a half years of unconditional imprisonment, two other defendants were sentenced to four and four and a half years of unconditional imprisonment respectively. One defendant, who was not involved in all the offences, got away with a 20-month partially suspended sentence. According to a spokesperson for the Regional Criminal Court, all the verdicts are legally binding.

(APA/Red)

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