Fake riders to burgle homes. Or disguised as courier boys to open your home. They thought they could get away with it, but instead they were unmasked and arrested by the police Livorno. Four Italians of Sinti origin had carried out at least eleven attacks between the provinces of Livorno, Pisa and La Spezia between October and December 2023. They even checked the cars parked in front of the buildings to identify potentially wealthier victims to hit, perhaps in possession of the “zorli”, i.e. the safes. They smashed windows and stole vehicle registration documents to look at addresses.
To avoid arousing suspicion, they acted mainly between 5pm and 8pm, taking advantage of the darkness and camouflaging themselves in the comings and goings of the residents. On one occasion, however, they had passed themselves off as technicians from the gas stealing the trust of an 85 year old woman who, unaware, opened the door for them. This time they acted in the morning, because “the pure (i.e. the elderly in the Sinti language) are alone at home”.
The scam
“Ma’am, there’s a gas leak, we need to check.” Then the scam: “We fear that radiation has contaminated the gold, put all the jewels away in the refrigerator.” Jewelry worth 30 thousand euros that disappear in a flash. L’elderly at first it is very trying. She’s almost ashamed of having been scammed and she doesn’t want to talk about it. But a hidden camera in the apartment filmed the whole scene and in the end she convinces herself to hand it over to the soldiers of the Livorno operational and mobile radio unit.
And so the police are immediately on the right track. The first to be identified is a 43-year-old from Sarzana. The investigators do not lose sight of him and in some environmental interceptions they sense who his accomplices may be, namely a 27 year old from the same town and two brothers aged 28 and 30 residing in Viareggio. The stakeouts and even the bank checks begin. Lieutenant Gianraffaele Di Risi’s men realize that one of them, despite having nothing, has managed to raise the money to open a bar. The suspicion is that he did it with the proceeds of the house raids.
The four act like professionals. During inspections and raids they don’t even bring their cell phones with them, but they communicate with each other with the walkie talkies. They place the burglary tools in the fake delivery packages or in the riders’ boxes, and when they go into action they wear gloves and masks. They also have knives and stinging spray. They even try to find false license plates very similar to those actually assigned to the car model, a white Grande Punto registered to a nomad from the Roma camp in Ciampino (Rome), in which they travel. Finally, to make sure they don’t run into patrols or unpleasant surprises, they listen to the frequencies of the police by hooking them up with a scanner. But all this was not enough for them to avoid arrest.
«The complaint by the 85-year-old lady was fundamental – explains Di Risi. The elderly are the chosen prey of these unscrupulous gangs who target the most fragile and vulnerable. Many are also debilitated by Health and then they don’t feel like embarking on a process of reporting. But we must always report because, in this way, we help prevent others from falling into the net.” In Livorno since the beginning of the year, the carabinieri have already had twelve meetings with the elderly to alert them and explain the most used deception techniques.
The kidnapping
Meanwhile, the military have filed in Power of attorney the information to demonstrate the connection between the purchase of the license for a bar in Viale Mazzini in Sarzana and the first theft committed in the port city, also highlighting the disproportion of income compared to the amount paid. So much so that the business was seized. «The day after the operation – continues Di Risi – we were inundated with calls. There were those who were looking for stolen objects among the stolen goods recovered, but many simply wanted to compliment them.”
During searches inside two prefabricated buildings and two public houses used by the four, the police found Rolex, luxury pens and household appliances and cash for a total value of 200 thousand euros. The money was also hidden inside pillows and upholstery.
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