Villa robbery in Mougins with fake weapons: three suspects arrested by GIGN
Three men looted a luxury villa in Mougins with ultra-realistic replica weapons. Apprehended in Cannet by the GIGN, they face ten years in prison.
Replica weapons used in villa robbery near Cannes
Three men attacked a luxury villa in Mougins, a commune near Cannes, in broad daylight, armed with what appeared to be Kalashnikov-type assault rifles. As France Info reports, surveillance footage shows the perpetrators, faces concealed and hands gloved, forcing open a glass door to enter the unoccupied house. They leave with several luxury bags, taking care to pick up objects that fell to the ground.
Alerted quickly, gendarmes attended the scene. Two days after the incident, they located the suspects and apprehended them in Cannet, thanks to intervention by the GIGN. All of the stolen goods were seized. The weapons recovered with them held a surprise: they were fake, but strikingly realistic.
Legal copies, a very real threat
Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Plaidy, commander of the Cannes gendarmerie, highlights a concerning trend in the area. "This summer, we have seen an increase in the number of burglaries, both with violence and also involving weapons, whether real weapons, weapons that fire gas or blank ammunition, or inoperable weapons. And ultimately, the goal is achieved, frightening the victims so as to impress them and extract money from them," he states.
This type of replica is not limited to major robberies. France Info also cites the example of a bakery attack, also captured by a surveillance camera: the incident lasts only twenty seconds, for a haul of 400 euros. These weapon copies are sold legally in specialist gun shops, under just one condition: being of legal age and presenting an identity document.
Michel Accos, owner of the Tatanka gun shop, describes the level of resemblance to real weapons. "In terms of resemblance, we are almost at reality level. If, on top of that, you fire with 9 mm blank rounds, it makes an awful racket," he clarifies.
Same sentence as with a genuine weapon
From a legal standpoint, the fact that the weapon is fake does not constitute a mitigating circumstance. The three suspects apprehended in Mougins face ten years' imprisonment, the same sentence as if they had used real weapons during the robbery.
Source: France Info