£34k booze bandits
Gang travel 860 miles to steal luxury drinks from leading wine merchant
AN international gang who targeted one of scotland’s top wine merchants stole more than £34,000 of alcohol in a late-night break-in.
several masked men were seen raiding luvians Bottle shop in st Andrews before dragging heavy bags of upmarket wines and spirits to their getaway van.
Police eventually traced the vehicle to an address in luton, Bedfordshire, more than 430 miles away – an 860-mile round trip – and found one of the thieves in the flat with part of the haul.
Yesterday at dundee sheriff Court, Romanian Andrei-Gregore Zaboloteanu, 33, was locked up after he admitted being part of the gang.
Zaboloteanu, from luton, admitted acting with others to break into luvians Bottle shop and stealing alcohol worth £34,080.96 on May 24 last year. Fiscal depute stewart duncan told the court: ‘The store specialises in highquality whiskies, wines and spirits. It has won numerous awards for customer service and is highly regarded in the trade.’
He said the store manager locked up after close of business on saturday May 23, but when he returned the next morning he found the door ajar. Mr duncan said: ‘He entered, and on doing so he noticed the alarm was not beeping, which it always did. He carried out a search and noticed numerous shelves were empty of alcohol. He found the alarm had been ripped from the wall and was lying on the shop floor. He contacted the owners to make them aware and contacted the police.
‘CCTV showed the accused parking the van outside the entrance of the store, before another male comes out the passenger door to assist with the reverse parking.
‘The accused then gets out the driver’s side of the van to assist with opening the rear door. The passenger removed bags from the rear before being joined by four persons in face coverings.
‘When they came back out of the shop they were carrying and dragging large bags containing the stolen alcohol. They were loaded into the rear and the accused drives the van away, while the remaining persons run off, off camera.’
A major police investigation led to Zaboloteanu’s home and a warrant was issued which led to an early morning raid by eight officers on June 11 last year.
‘The Mercedes van was parked outside,’ Mr duncan said, ‘and the accused and another person were traced within.’
Just £836.99 of the stolen haul was recovered. Zaboloteanu denied involvement when he was quizzed by officers.
James Mulgrew, defending, said his client had become a father two months ago but was aware he faced ‘a real risk of custody’.
sheriff lorna drummond, QC, deferred sentence and remanded the accused in custody.
she said: ‘It’s a serious offence and it is one that I have no doubt justifies you being sent to jail for a significant period.’