Police arrested three suspects early this morning on suspicion of stealing 26 valuable racing pigeons. During a check on the A16 near Moerdijk, officers saw the pigeons in a basket next to the three occupants.
The suspects are a 47-year-old man and 57-year-old woman from Ukraine and a 32-year-old man from Rotterdam. The trio told the police an incoherent story about the origin and destination of the pigeons. The rings around the pigeon’s feet showed that the animals came from Belgium and not from Poland, as they stated.
An agent of the National Unit found out the rightful Belgian owner through the rings on the pigeon’s feet. After a nightly phone call and a check in the pigeon house by the owner in Belgium, it turned out that he was missing 26 pigeons. The pigeons return to their owner in Belgium. The police suspect that the birds were destined for a new owner in Ukraine.
gangs of criminals
Due to the circumstances and the way in which the suspects acted, officers believe that the suspects were engaged in mobile banditry. This is described by the police as (inter)nationally itinerant criminal groups, who are guilty of various crimes such as shop and cargo theft, burglary in homes and businesses, fraud, skimming, pickpocketing, fuel theft and car theft.
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