A DOZEN people have appeared in court over a string of high-value burglaries, including a Mission Impossible-style heist in which rare books worth more than £2 million were stolen from a London depot.
Early editions of culturally significant works authored by distinguished figures including Sir Isaac Newton and the Italian astronomer Galileo were among 170 books stolen from the warehouse in west London in 2017.
The texts were found buried under a house in rural Romania earlier this month. Twelve defendants who are linked to a Romanian organised crime group appeared by video link from custody at Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
They had already pleaded guilty to either conspiracy to commit burglaries, conspiracy to conceal and transfer criminal property, or both.
The court also heard that 12 “highvalue and well-planned” raids were committed by the “sophisticated” network in the UK between December 2016 and April 2019.
Most targeted premises holding hundreds of expensive and portable items such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, prosecutor Catherine Farrelly said.
But the “primary exception” was the “deliberate targeting” of customs clearing centre Frontier Forwarding in Feltham on January 29, 2017, inside which were works of “immense cultural significance”.
The works were due to be shipped to the US for a specialist book auction, she added.
They belonged to three book dealers – two Italian and one German – and had a combined insurance value of about £2 million, the court heard.
Ms Farrelly said four of the network flew in from Romania two days beforehand. They travelled to the warehouse in a Renault Megane which was registered under a fake name, before slicing holes in the perimeter fence of the premises.
They then cut into the skylights of the building shortly after 9pm.
Two men, Daniel David and Victor Opariuc, then abseiled down, balancing on shelving to avoid setting off sensorbased alarms and taking out some 170 books.
The items were carried inside 16 large holdalls during the five-hour operation, the court heard.
Driver Narcis Popescu then rented a house in the Balham area, which is in south London, where the books were stored.
His DNA was later matched to a sample which was found in the abandoned and bleach-cleaned Megane.
David’s DNA also matched a sample on a discarded metal bar that was discovered inside the warehouse, the court heard.
It was several days later that Marian Mamaliga and Ilie Ungureanu came to the UK in a van.
They visited the Balham address to pick up the books and left via the Eurotunnel on February 5, the court heard.
Eleven other raids, including several using the same method of abseiling through the roof, were carried out by the group.
The value of goods which were stolen in those burglaries has been estimated by officers at Scotland Yard at around £2 million.
It also emerged that, in one raid on a warehouse located in Reading which took place in March 2017, about 500 MacBook computers, 520 iPhones, 240 Samsung tablets and 400 iPads were stolen.
The value of the goods was estimated at £340,000, the court heard.
Ms Farrelly said the network was overseen by an individual named Gavril Popinciuc, who has a conviction in Romania for setting up an organised crime group in 2015, with others reporting to him.
The defendants, who are due to be sentenced on Thursday after mitigation on Tuesday and Wednesday, are: Gavril Popinciuc, Marian Albu, Paul Popeanu, Traian Mihulca, Vasile Paragina, Marian Mamaliga, Victor Opariuc, Daniel David, Narcis Popescu, Ilie Ungureanu, Cristian Ungureanu and Liviu Leahu.
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