Five men were due to appear before the Kortrijk criminal court on Wednesday for stealing 319 pallets of Red Bull cans worth a total of €1 million from a warehouse in Rekkem, West Flanders.
However, only two of the suspects were present in court on Wednesday.
The group also face similar charges in Kuurne, West Flanders, and face 40 months in prison each.
The thieves stole the 319 pallets of the energy drink on the night of 11-12 August 2018 from a warehouse of the Jet Import company. They then repeated the crime, stealing 44 pallets of the same brand from a company in Kuurne in October of the same year.
“The thieves knew exactly what they were doing,” the prosecutor stressed on Wednesday about the Rekkem robbery. “They managed to avoid the surveillance camera system and did not use any mobile phones so as to leave as little a trace as possible. It took about 12 hours and 11 transport vehicles to complete their operation.”
However, the operation did not go exactly as planned. Shortly after the robbery, two semi-trailers were spotted in Mouscron, which allowed investigators to trace the five suspects.
Of the five defendants, only two were present at Wednesday’s hearing. According to the lawyer of Mohammed K. from Waregem, his client is an honest citizen who was deceived by his cousin, the owner of a transport company, who was absent.
Judgement will be handed down on 7 June.
