Romanian gangs raid British M-way trucks... from bonnets of cars at 50mph
ROMANIAN gangs are performing highspeed heists on British roads by leaping from cars on to the back of moving lorries to steal the goods inside, it has emerged.
The criminals mount their highly dangerous thefts by driving so close behind trucks that they cannot be seen by the driver through his mirrors.
With the car travelling at 50mph, one member of the gang climbs through the sunroof, slithers across the windscreen and then on to the car bonnet. Attached by a rope, he then uses a crowbar or knife to break into the back of the lorry.
The thief clambers inside and passes goods back to fellow gang members.
Police fear that the manoeuvre, dubbed the
‘Willingness to take risks’
Romanian rollover, is on the rise on motorways and A-roads.
The technique first came to light last year after the arrest of 11 Romanian men near Keele, Staffordshire, who were driving on the M6 in a Citroen Relay van with a homemade hatch cut in to the roof.
The men were accused of plotting to use the vehicle for daring high- speed thefts. They admitted conspiracy to rob and were each sentenced to two years in prison.
A spate of around 50 such cases were also reported to police in northern Germany in 2013. And Irish police believe that the same tactic led to the theft of cigarettes worth £71,000 in March.
Describing organised Romanian gangs, Superintendent Paul Keasey, who is leading a crackdown on criminals on Britain’s roads, said: ‘Their propensity to commit crimes where the risk appears to me to outweigh the gain has most surprised me. I mean, would you climb on to the front of a moving vehicle for as little as £150?’
He added: ‘We need to understand the [criminal] culture to understand their willingness to take risks and the level of control and manipulation within their own hierarchy, which is often feudal.
‘They have their own rules, their own controlling mechanisms. They are far more organised than we originally thought.’