There was a gang that specialized in “riffis”, the dismantling of which was announced by EL.AS. Since last November, its members have broken into a total of 17 shops in various areas of the urban complex of Thessaloniki, with their loot including money, mobile phones and tobacco products, worth more than 138,000 euros.

Five people (three Albanians and two Greeks), aged 26 to 34, were arrested as its members, while one woman is among them.

Among their “targets” are convenience and mobile phone stores, gambling agencies, steakhouses, supermarkets and pharmacies. “Most of the burglaries were carried out by the method of opening a hole in walls or plasterboard with the use of burglary tools, while after entering the premises of the shops, they moved with careful movements in order not to be noticed”, according to an announcement by EL.AS.

According to the same announcement, they acted with a different composition each time, while taking strict counter-surveillance measures, monitoring the area around the shops, changing their clothes and monitoring the frequencies of the Police. They also used rented cars, which the woman rented from the members of the circle.

In home searches, sums of money, burglary tools, a portable transceiver tuned to EL.AS frequencies, 230 narcotic pills, a stun gun and two cars were confiscated, among other things.

Those arrested are taken to the prosecutor, while their involvement in any other criminal acts is investigated.