They were actually looking for drugs, but then they came across bicycles. During an operation against a drug ring in Romania, 22 stolen racing bikes of the Italian cycling team also happened to be found again.
Four suspects were arrested during searches in southeast Romania, the authorities announced on Friday. “We caught them red-handed trying to sell some of the bikes at a modest price of around 1,500 euros each,” said a prosecutor.
The suspects are mainly accused of smuggling drugs into Romania, but also other goods. A week ago you are said to have stolen bicycles worth 600,000 euros, the equivalent of 635,000 francs, from the Italian national cycling team while they were taking part in a competition in France.
Team won gold at the Olympics
According to the French police, the bikes disappeared from a hotel in the city of Lille after they had been left there for “many hours unattended”.
“These bicycles have a great economic, but also a sentimental value,” said a representative of the Italian embassy in Bucharest. Accordingly, these are the same bikes with which the Italian team won the gold medal in Beijing and the World Cup in France. (AFP / jmh)