Brussels police recover 1,000 stolen items in pickpocket crackdown

Some 1,000 stolen objects, including a large number of telephones, were retrieved on 13 and 17 September by Brussels-North police zone in two separate operations. The raids were carried out as part of an existing dossier opened in 2019 for pickpocketing in the Brussels-North area (Schaerbeek, Evere and Saint-Josse).

“These actions were led by the central judiciary brigade (BJC) in collaboration with the public transport safety brigade (BST) at Brussels-North police zone,” the police service said in a 22 September statement.

“During the investigations, four arrests were made, three in Schaerbeek and one in Anderlecht. Three of the suspects were placed under arrest and one was made available to the investigating judge.”

When the searches were carried out, more than a thousand articles of dubious origin were found, some of which were reported as stolen to the police. These stolen goods included mobile phones, tablets, cameras, luxury watches, bicycles and electric scooters. The sum of €3,000 was also recovered.

In addition, officers dismantled a secret workshop containing equipment to reconfigure and change the parts of the stolen phones, to make them ready for resale. The police will now contact the owners of the stolen items, so that they can come and collect their possessions.