The five persons arrested as a result of the searches performed on March 12 are aged between 20 and 41 and are from Balti and Drochia. The men are suspected of committing robberies in northern districts of Moldova under the guidance of five detainees. According to the General Police Inspectorate, the group’s leader was a convict aged 55 held at Penitentiary No.6 in Soroca, IPN reports.

A spate of break-ins in homes of elderly people were committed primarily in northern Moldova at the end of 2018. The perpetrators used violence against the victims and stole money from their homes. This January, the police obtained information about the identity of the possible authors of a robbery committed in Drochia town on January 26. There, the suspects entered the house and beat and tied the victims. Four suspects were arrested the next day.

The police established that the thieves, who are former detainees, kept in touch with prisoners from penitentiaries situated in Bălți and Soroca. Earlier, these were investigated for organizing similar offenses from prison.

Those arrested are also suspected of having committed the robbery in Rădoaia village of Sângerei district on February 23 and other offenses.