Arezzo, joint operation of the State Police and the Carabinieri. Two members of the gang of thefts of goldsmith companies arrested

On the night of Friday 29 November, as part of the investigative activities to combat thefts to the detriment of goldsmith companies in the province of Arezzo, the State Police and the Carabinieri of Arezzo, assisted by personnel from the Central Operations Service of Rome, placed two Romanian citizens under arrest on suspicion of crime.

The following charges were collected against the subjects in question: by the police officers of the Flying Squad of the Police Headquarters and by the military personnel of the Operational Section of the Carabinieri Company, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Arezzo, serious evidence of guilt in relation to at least two of the latest criminal episodes committed against two different companies in the gold sector present in the Arezzo area.

More specifically, at first light in the morning, after the theft committed during the night to the detriment of the precious metal processing company “FULLOVE” in Laterina Pergine Valdarno, a person was reported by local citizens to be hanging around a bar located a few meters from the Carabinieri station in Laterina. The young man, not from the area, was wandering around cautiously and wearing muddy clothes and boots, asking the users of the bar if they could make a call since he did not have a cell phone at that moment. The military personnel at the station noticed the man and after identifying him asked him the reasons for his presence there, but without receiving an answer. The military personnel of the Operational Section of the Arezzo Carabinieri Company and the investigators of the Arezzo Flying Squad were therefore activated, given the possible connection of the man with the theft committed during the night to the detriment of the goldsmith's company which was located a few meters from the place where the subject was sighted.

During further investigations, the Carabinieri Station of Pergine Valdarno checked a Lancia Y car, with only one person on board, also with Eastern European features, which was proceeding in an irregular and cautious manner near a dirt road presumably used during the night by thieves to flee into the countryside after the theft committed at the “FULLOVE” company.

The second subject, of Romanian nationality, also claimed not to speak Italian properly and not to be from the area, but could not provide investigators with plausible reasons for his presence in the vicinity of the “FULLOVE” company where a few hours earlier the theft of precious metals by unknown persons had taken place.

It was therefore decided to carry out more in-depth investigations by accompanying the subjects to the police stations for identification.

An intense info-investigative activity was launched, carried out by the Carabinieri and the Police Squad Mobile of Arezzo and the Central Operations Service of Rome, which led in a few hours to the identification of the hideout used by the gang outside the province and where, following a search, elements useful for the investigation were found that unequivocally linked the two subjects to the theft committed the night before in Laterina Pergine Valdarno and specifically the clothing and tools used during the criminal action, in addition to further elements and investigative findings useful for the continuation of the investigations.

Further investigative information acquisitions led, in fact, to the discovery of the presence of the two subjects of Romanian nationality also in the territory of Tegoleto, in the municipality of Civitella in Val di Chiana (AR) on the evening of the attempted theft committed against the company “New Chains” on 22 November 2024. Even for the theft in question, which, due to the characteristics, modus operandi and physical features of the perpetrators as extrapolated from the appearance of the images captured by the video surveillance cameras, appeared to the investigators to be an action attributable to the same criminal association, the investigations carried out and the evidence acquired left no room for doubt as to the involvement of the two subjects investigated in the attempted theft in question.

The two Romanian citizens, not coming from this provincial area, based on the elements collected and the findings achieved in the context of the investigative activities carried out by the aforementioned investigative offices, given the serious and consistent evidence of crime collected against them and given the existence of the risk of escape, were placed under judicial police custody for the aggravated theft committed in Laterina Pergine Valdarno (company “Fullove”) on the night of 28 November 2024 and for the attempted aggravated theft committed in Tegoleto (company “New Chain”) on the night of 22 November 2024 and were then transferred to the Arezzo District Prison by order of the PM of the Arezzo Public Prosecutor's Office in charge of the proceedings.

The prosecutor in charge requested the GIP at the Court of Arezzo to validate the arrest and apply the precautionary measure of detention in prison. The arrest warrants were validated and the judge applied the measure requested by the PM, confirming the prison terms for the two arrested subjects, fully ratifying the actions of the police forces.

Praise for the joint and coordinated investigation activity carried out by the inter-force group and for the results achieved by the Operational Section and the Flying Squad was also expressed by the Prefect of Arezzo, who has repeatedly convened provincial committees for public order and safety in the last period in order to prepare and strengthen, in agreement with the police forces, the activity of territorial control and the counteractions to be implemented against the phenomenon of thefts committed against companies in the gold sector present within the province of Arezzo; last but not least, the Committee held today in which the Prefect also took the opportunity to congratulate the police forces in light of the brilliant operation concluded with the two arrest warrants.