A British gang of cargo thieves have been given sentences of up to five years in prison by the Bruges Criminal Court.
On 4 July 2020, the gang targeted a business located on Pathoekeweg in Bruges. Using bolt cutters, they breached the compound’s fence and stole contents from two trailers.
One carried Red Bull and Alpro products, the other was loaded with dates and prunes. That same weekend, trailers holding zinc bars worth a total of €100,000 were stolen in France.
Phone records led investigators to establish a link between the British gang and these events. They found connections to Dany T., 68, and Johan P., 56, both from West Flanders. Dany appeared to rent vehicles for the gang, while Johan provided a warehouse for storing the stolen zinc. The loot was later sold to a buyer in Terneuzen via an intermediary, Jarno V., 32, from Opwijk.
Further wiretapped conversations revealed that Johan P. and Sébastien S., 41, from Hannut, stole metals in autumn 2020. They took around 25 tons of railway tracks from an Infrabel site in Franière (Floreffe, province of Namur).
John V., from Widnes, England, received the harshest sentence of five years imprisonment and a €4,000 euro. His fellow British culprits were given sentences from three to four years in absentia, with immediate arrest warrants issued.
Dany T. received a three-year sentence. The remainder of the defendants were sentenced from six months to two years. Finally, the court ordered that damages totalling roughly €55,000 be paid to the victims.
