The pigeons could have been destined for a new owner in Ukraine, said in a statement the police who suspect the suspects, from the Netherlands and Ukraine, of engaging in “mobile banditry”. “When checking a vehicle, the officers saw the pigeons in a basket, in addition to the three occupants, explained the police.
The suspects – a man and woman from Ukraine and a Rotterdam native aged 47, 57 and 32 respectively – were arrested after telling an inconsistent story about the origin and destination of the pigeons, she said. .
The pigeons’ bands showed the animals were from Belgium, not Poland as the suspects said, and helped trace their owner, law enforcement said.
After telephone contact and a night check in his loft by the owner, it turned out that he was missing 26 racing pigeons.