Overview
- Four defendants were convicted of serious gang theft and tax evasion, while a 53-year-old was found guilty of receiving stolen goods.
- The harshest penalty was five years and ten months for a 33-year-old, with the others receiving between three years and three years eleven months.
- The case covered nine thefts dating to July 2020 on trains traveling from Poland through Germany toward the Netherlands, including the Frankfurt (Oder)–Berlin route and the Hannover region.
- According to the court, perpetrators boarded containers in transit, cut holes in the fronts, dropped cartons to accomplices, and funneled most of the haul to a 53-year-old reseller.
- Prosecutors estimate more than three million cigarettes stolen and nearly €1 million in damages, and the judgments are not yet legally final after a February sweep of homes and a Dutch storage site.