Bari: 11 arrests for criminal association with the aim of committing aggravated theft, receiving stolen goods and improper use of credit cards, among the victims also the vice captain of Bari Calcio

In Bari, Giovinazzo (BA) and at the Foggia prison, yesterday morning, the Carabinieri of the Bari San Paolo Company executed a precautionary measure order issued by the GIP of the Bari court against 11 individuals deemed responsible for the crimes of "criminal association aimed at committing crimes against property and in particular aggravated theft of cash, credit cards and valuables, as well as improper use of credit cards and receiving stolen goods".

According to the accusatory approach accepted by the investigating judge (subject to the assessment in the subsequent phases with the contribution of the defence) the investigations, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bari and conducted in the period from October 2022 to April 2023 by the Operational Unit of the Bari San Paolo Company through environmental/telephone interceptions, GPS track detections, analysis of video surveillance systems, observations/shadowing and questioning of the injured parties, have allowed the existence of aassociation which, with daily work shifts, marked by pre-established zones and times, supervised the parking areas of the main city shopping centres as well as the streets facing the port entrance of Bari.

After identifying potential drivers to target, the action was taken using a consolidated method consisting of removing money, credit cards and valuables from the passenger compartment, taking advantage of the owner's temporary absence or distracting him by puncturing one of the tires, so as to force the victim to stop and get out of the vehicle. Immediately after the thefts were committed, the proceeds were divided among the members after cash withdrawals were made at the nearest ATMs through the improper use of the stolen credit cards.

Among the prominent victims of the group, in addition to the vice-captain of Bari Calcio, there is also a textile entrepreneur from Bari who, after being robbed of a bunch of keys, contained inside his car parked near a shopping center, was followed and monitored for several days in order to identify his place of residence and his lifestyle habits, in order to be able to carry out the subsequent home burglary, avoided only thanks to the preventive activity implemented by the Carabinieri.

During the investigative activity, the military personnel of the Operational Unit collected serious and consistent evidence of a crime regarding 19 criminal episodes thus outlining a evidentiary framework widely shared by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bari which has submitted a request for the issuing of a precautionary measure against the members of the criminal association dedicated to crimes against property, accepted by the GIP of the Court of Bari who has ordered their arrest.