Discarded bus ticket led to arrest of 'bump-key gang'

A discarded bus ticket was the breakthrough that allowed police to identify and disrupt the bump-key crime gang, a court has been told.

Prosecution witnesses testified earlier today during the compilation of evidence against Kartlos Dolaberidze, 41, from Georgia, Kryzsztof Tadeusz Latocha, 30, from Poland, Algirdas Sliogeris, 48, from Lithuania, Adilet Shakirgazieva, 28, from Kyrgyzstan and Mate Oniani, 25, from Georgia.

All five are pleading not guilty to charges relating to conspiracy to commit a crime, participating in organised crime, forming part of a criminal organisation and receiving stolen goods.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli heard Inspector Jonathan Ransley testify, telling the court that part of the gang’s modus operandi was to rob two flats in the same block. On some occasions, the thieves would leave some stolen items on the stairs, although no explanation was given for this.

The thieves had used the same modus operandi to commit all of the thefts, the court was told. No signs of forced entry would be found, cash, gold and jewellery would be stolen, whilst electronics would be left untouched. An odd signature of the gang’s burglaries would be the homeowner’s socks being found in places where they had not originally been left.

Ransley recalled one burglary that took place at Tigne Court in Sliema last year. The owner of the flat had told police that at around 4pm, an Italian-speaking man had buzzed her intercom, before claiming he had pressed the wrong doorbell. The owner had gone out around two hours later, only for her to return and find €50,000 in gold, jewellery and other items missing. €25,000 worth of items were stolen from one Sliema apartment and €30,000 from another.

From one apartment, alcohol and silverware were taken and a knife was found.

Amongst the residences targeted by the thieves was that of Magistrate Ian Farrugia, the court was told. Ransley testified that CCTV footage from Charles Court in Sliema had captured a two-man team open a door in five seconds flat and emerge 45 minutes later. The men were later identified as two of the accused.

The breakthrough in the investigation came after a burglary from an apartment in Sliema, in which €9,000 worth of jewellery were stolen. Officers had found a bus ticket outside the apartment block. Checking with the bus operator, the police were informed that the ticket was purchased in Qawra at around 6:40pm for route 12.

Working on a hunch that the thieves were using buses and were based in Qawra, police trawled through CCTV footage of bus stops in both Qawra and Sliema. Two persons were identified as the same individuals captured on the Charles Court cameras. Officers had subsequently boarded the bus after the men and arrested them as they alighted in St. Paul’s Bay.

The men were identified as Krzysztof Tadeusz Latocha and Kartlos Dolaberidze, the latter wearing the same clothes he had worn during one of the burglaries. A raid on the men’s apartment led to the other arrests and to the recovery of burglary tools, master keys and loot. The police investigations into the spate of burglaries also revealed that a member of a large foreign criminal organisation was involved.

Inspector Kurt Zahra told the court that Oniani was found to bear a tattoo giving his rank in the organisation. There were tears from the dock as Shakirgazieva wept in desperation as the court denied the group bail.

The case continues on October 2nd.

Lawyer Joseph Mizzi appeared for the five.