Handcuffs to two Serbs of the “Pink Panthers” gang

Handcuffs on two Serbs who in the past were members of the “Pink Panthers” organization and systematically committed thefts in jewelry stores in the center of Athens using the “rififi” method, police officers of the Property Crimes Prosecution Department of the Attica Security Directorate spent the afternoon of Wednesday (24/4).

As it emerged from the investigation, those arrested had been operating since at least last December, while two cases of break-ins in shops in the center of Athens have been solved so far.

In terms of their action, the defendants identified the target stores, carried out searches and subsequently, laid out their plan of action in order to enter them and remove jewelry and gold. Subsequently, they apparently had the appropriate channeling network for the stolen items, making a profit of more than 315,000 euros.

How the jewelry stores were ringing

The approach to jewelry stores was made in the evening hours. In one case moving on foot, while in the other, they approached the area by car, which they parked several meters away, thus avoiding their connection with the car and their discovery.

The choice of jewelry stores was not accidental, since in both cases there was an empty – abandoned building right next to it, which the perpetrators initially entered, thus avoiding being noticed by any person, since these were buildings that had no visitors.

A very basic characteristic of this group was the way of breaking. In particular, the individuals proceeded to break into the jewelry stores using the “rififi” method, i.e. opening a hole in the wall between the abandoned building and the jewelry store, through which they entered the store.

Inside the stores, only one of the perpetrators entered, who initially crawled on the floor, thus managing not to activate the alarm’s motion detectors and removing the jewelry-gold.

Finally, in both cases, at the point of the adjacent jewelry shops where the perpetrators opened the hole, they placed pieces of fabric on the floor, apparently to minimize the noise from the pieces of the wall falling to the floor. After completing their actions, they would exit the abandoned buildings and walk away, carrying the bags of loot with them.

Characteristic of the attention they showed but also of the professionalism that distinguishes them, is the repeated surveillance of jewelry stores – targets which they wanted to break into. In this way, they observed the conditions prevailing in the area thus minimizing the possibility of being noticed. Also, all their sightings took place at night when the shops were closed and commercial traffic was limited.

For their movements, they use forged or falsified documents, while they travel separately and in different ways to avoid the possibility of being arrested together. For their road trips, they use either vehicles with foreign license plates from different countries or vehicles from the respective country, which are registered in the names of other people, usually with a clean criminal record.

After searches of the property and their homes, among others, the following were found and confiscated:

· Lots of burglary tools,

· 3 watches,

· Jewelry,

· 190 euros,

· fake driver’s license,

· 3 mobile phones and

· Their personal items.

An additional motorcycle and car used for their transportation were confiscated.