Highway Heists: Moroccan Gang’s Daring Truck Thefts Exposed

The modus operandi of the accused is simple: using a cutter, they cut the tarpaulins of the trucks parked in the rest areas, then steal the cargoes which they sell in Belgium via the Internet or at markets, or ship to Morocco. This criminal network was very active between September and November 2024 where it operated on the rest areas of the E 19 motorway in Nivelles, reports La Dernière Heure.

The defendants were apprehended by a police patrol while they were driving in two cars, a Mercedes and a Renault, during the night of November 4 to 5, 2024. One of them managed to escape. At the hearing on Monday, the other four, known to the justice system, claim to remember nothing. They swear they were drunk or drugged.

The public prosecutor’s office has requested sentences of ten months to three years in prison against them. Their lawyers pleaded for a reduction in sentences. One of the defendants, a 28-year-old Moroccan with no known domicile in Belgium, was arrested in possession of a fake Italian driver’s license which he claims to have picked up on the night of October 9 to 10, 2024 in Mons, on a motorway rest area in Wallonia. He faces thirty months suspended.