Tipperary gardaí help foil Romanian gang’s crime spree

Tipperary gardaí recently provided essential information in stopping a Romanian crime gang, the Tipperary Joint Policing Committee has been told.

At last week’s meeting, Chief Superintendent Aileen Magner described for the committee an operation between March 2023 and February 2024.

“It was gardaí in Tipperary that put a stop to their gallop,” said Chief Supt Magner.

Gardaí in Tipperary were investigating a series of thefts from shops when they discovered it was the work of a gang.

The gang consisted of three to four men and one woman using earpieces and foil-lined backpacks.

The JPC heard that the gang targeted multiple towns in one day, nationwide. They stole from shops in towns that had little security and low staff numbers in the evening.

They would steal large amounts of alcohol with each backpack carrying eight to ten bottles.

The gang were believed to be responsible for 85 incidents of stealing €50,000 worth of property.

EXCELLENT WORK

Chief Supt Magner said that Tipperary gardaí provided information to the PSNI and it was that cross-border cooperation that led to arrests.

“Excellent work from local gardaí, out there using the tools available to them,” said Chief Supt Magner.

Two suspects were arrested in late February when a silver BMW was stopped by police in Newry.

Police found stolen property from TK Max and said the suspects had been in Belfast, returning to Dublin.

The vehicles were stopped as a result of An Garda Síochána SIS alerts put out on two vehicles.

The following day, gardaí searched a house in Dublin where they recovered another vehicle, €7,000 in cash and two foil-lined backpacks.

Investigations are ongoing.