Three foreign nationals were arrested with the support of special police units after attempting to rob a cottage in Minsk, the Interior Ministry reported.
Last Saturday, police received information that unidentified masked men had conducted reconnaissance of a private house in Minsk’s Tsentralny District before fleeing to Russia. Working together with Russian law enforcement authorities, investigators identified the suspects as three foreign nationals aged 39, 43 and 56. All had multiple criminal convictions in their home country, including for particularly serious crimes, among them offenses resulting in a person’s death.
Investigators determined that the suspects intended to steal a large amount of cash. Two days later, detectives received information that they had re-entered Belarus.
The men returned to Minsk to steal a large amount of cash. They knew that the owners of the house were on holiday abroad. The suspects were tracked using the national public security monitoring system.
Around midnight, they arrived at the cottage, broke a window and entered the house. The group was detained with the use of firearms. A personal search and inspection of their vehicle uncovered burglary tools, changes of clothing and other items intended for use in committing the crime.
One of the detainees said the group had planned to steal between $1.5 million and $5 million.
A criminal case has been opened on charges of theft committed by an organized group on an especially large scale. Investigators are also examining the suspects’ possible involvement in similar crimes in Belarus and other CIS countries.
