Police in Flanders have arrested two men and a woman suspected of stealing more than €70,000 worth of goods from Colruyt supermarkets across Belgium.
The suspects, aged 19, 25 and 30, are all of Romanian origin and are believed to have mainly targeted printer ink cartridges.
The trio were spotted on Thursday afternoon in a Colruyt store in Bree by a security guard who recognised them from previous thefts. When they realised they had been identified, they fled the scene, leaving their filled trolleys behind.
Police from the Carma zone, which covers Genk, As, Oudsbergen, Zutendaal, Houthalen-Helchteren, Bree, Bocholt and Kinrooi, were alerted and tracked down the suspects' vehicle to Maaseik, where another Colruyt store is located. In cooperation with the Maasland police, officers intercepted the car on Venlosesteenweg and found cutting pliers used to remove security tags.
The suspects were taken to the Genk police station for questioning, and their car was seized. They had reportedly been seen earlier this week committing similar thefts in Mechelen and Oud-Turnhout.
All three were brought before an investigating judge in Antwerp and placed in custody. The investigation is ongoing, led by the Rivierenland police zone and the Antwerp Public Prosecutor's office.
