Criminal group from Brăila dismantled by DIICOT. 23 suspects accused of attempted murder and loan sharking
Nearly 30 raids took place in Brăila and Galați counties, including at a detention facility, in an operation targeting a criminal network comprising 23 individuals suspected of attempted murder, extortion, loan sharking, human trafficking and money laundering.
Criminal group from Brăila dismantled by DIICOT. 23 suspects accused of attempted murder and loan sharking
Prosecutors from the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism, together with officers from the Criminal Investigation Directorate within the Romanian Police, carried out 29 raids in Brăila and Galați counties, including at a detention facility. The operation targeted a criminal network comprising 23 individuals, according to Cotidianul RO.
The investigation indicates that, from 2021 onwards, three people created a criminal organisation in the city of Brăila. Twenty other individuals subsequently joined it, all operating under the coordination of a 50-year-old man.
The suspects are being investigated for extremely serious offences. They allegedly loaned money at exorbitant interest rates, forcing borrowers to pledge valuable houses and cars as collateral. To recover the sums, the group members allegedly resorted to physical violence and psychological pressure.
According to DIICOT, from the beginning of the organisation's activities to the present, the individuals have committed acts of violence against several people, including four attempted murders. Their actions also aimed to establish a zone of terror in order to consolidate their control over the territory and to intimidate rivals. The blows inflicted on the victims, given their intensity and the areas targeted, could have caused death, which was prevented only through rapid medical intervention.
The head of the network allegedly attempted to conceal the illicit origin of funds obtained through criminal activity by making financial transfers in the names of relatives. Additionally, members of the organisation allegedly contacted the assaulted persons to convince them not to report the matter to the authorities, thereby obstructing the investigation.
Another aspect of the criminal activity involved human trafficking. Two of the suspects allegedly recruited two young women using the "loverboy" method, forcing them through emotional manipulation followed by psychological coercion to engage in prostitution in Switzerland and Austria. The profit obtained from this activity allegedly went to the perpetrators.
The investigation concerns multiple offences: formation of an organised criminal group, attempted qualified murder, incitement to and complicity in attempted qualified murder, extortion, loan sharking, harbouring of offenders, human trafficking, procuring and money laundering. Interrogations are being conducted at DIICOT's central headquarters, with the support of forensic experts from the National Institute of Forensics, police officers from Bucharest, officers from the Special Intervention Brigade and specialists from the Aviation Service of the Ministry of the Interior.
Source: Cotidianul.ro