PARIS (AP) -- French police have broken up a highly organized Lithuanian robbery ring that forced women, often cash-strapped single mothers, to steal from supermarkets in France.
In all, nine men and 11 women were arrested at a hotel, Mr. Bed, in northern France on Oct. 23, police said Monday.
Five suspected organizers, including a man who allegedly beat women to make them steal, remain in custody, facing possible charges of theft in an organized band, police said. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment.
Nine others face deportation. Six were released.
The gang allegedly recruited women by lending them money in Lithuania and then making them work off the debt by shoplifting in France.
Drivers transported the women to supermarkets and waited for them while they stole alcohol, clothes, shoes and razor blades, police suspect.
The women were generally single mothers; each was required to steal up to C150 (US$175) of goods from two supermarkets each day, police allege. The ringleaders are suspected of sending the booty back to Lithuania for resale.
"It was slavery," said Patrick Roussel, a police captain in Tourcoing, a town in northern France.
The gang is thought to have operated in the region for at least a year, stealing several hundred thousand euros (dollars) worth of goods and switching women regularly to avoid police attention.
The police investigation began in June when a Lithuanian shoplifter was caught red-handed. Police said she hid the bottles of alcohol she stole in a bag lined with aluminum foil, allowing them to pass undetected through theft detectors at the store entrance.
French police crack suspected Lithuanian robbery ring AP
Kuumad uudised | 29 Oct 2003 | EWR
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