The first criminal charges have been filed against the men accused of the theft of team bikes from the Italian track squad at last month's World Track Championships in France.
The 22 bikes and other kit stolen during the organised robbery has now been valued at €600,000 while an estimated €400,000 of criminal damage was caused during the raid.
It means those accused of the crime are now facing charges totaling €1 million, though all but one of the 22 bikes was recovered by the police in Romania in the days after the robbery last month.
The bikes were loaded into a van at a hotel in Lille three weeks ago but were stolen the night before the vehicle was due to be driven back to Italy. Included in the haul were the bikes ridden by the Italian team pursuit line-up that won gold at the Worlds and at the Olympics.
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The bikes were recovered just over a week ago when the police in Romania carried out searches to “combat trafficking and illicit use of high-risk drugs and to identify stolen goods by members of the criminal group”.
Fifteen searches were carried out by Romanian law enforcement in Vrancea County and the bikes were found in one of the properties searched while four suspects were also arrested.
Of the four, two have been charged; both Bosnian men aged 18 and 20 years though one is a long-term resident in France and is understood to have citizenship. They are now before the courts in Lille where the robbery took place.
The men are being held in detention pending their next court hearing on December 10th. As well as the stolen bikes, the police also seized small amounts of cannabis and cash during the raids as well as mobile phones and interactive devices.
