Bulgarian store sells stolen phones in The Hague

- In Bulgaria, a shop was closed that bore the striking name Occasion Den Haag. In the shop telephones were brought to the man that had been stolen in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The Hague police department came to the store in a major investigation into stolen mobile phones. This was started after a declaration was made by seven victims from different cities in 2017 after pickpockets took off their smartphone. From the data of the 'Find my phone' app, they all surfaced again at an address in the Schilderswijk in The Hague.

The search of Team de Heemstraat started a study on the residents of this building. Here, several notorious pickpockets turned out to stop. The main occupants, a 44-year-old Bulgarian had no registered income but bought an expensive car and paid that cash.

Also from the Schilderswijk itself came signals that the man possessed quite a lot of expensive stuff. When the local policeman, who was involved in the investigation, saw the man and his wife load things for a holiday, they decided to keep the pair.

In the house there was a considerable amount of cash and various stolen smartphones. The confiscated laptop had been linked with hundreds of phones. At least 260 of them had been reported as stolen.

Because the investigation showed that the devices were brought to Bulgaria, they were eventually investigated further. From chat conversations it became clearer, police said today, that it was an internationally operating network that sold the goods in Bulgaria; in shop Occasion The Hague.

Two other suspects were arrested in the case. In Bulgaria itself, jewelery, watches and stolen phones were seized during house searches.