Swiss indict 4 accused of Europe crime gang ties
Jan 30, 2012, 7:32 PM
GENEVA (AP) – Switzerland’s attorney general has charged four men with being managers of a Europe-wide organized crime ring whose members are believed to be behind a wave of burglaries and shoplifting in the Alpine nation.
Swiss authorities said Monday that indictments were returned by the nation’s highest criminal court against four members of the so-called “Thieves in Law” criminal organization who are now in police custody.
Authorities said in a statement they are investigating 30 others in the transnational organization whose members sport tattoos showing their rank and function, share a common fund and even speak their own language.
The investigation began in 2009, but the organization is said to date back 20 years to the former Soviet Union.
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