TBritish news outlets have revealed a criminal scheme in which a Premier League star and his wife and partner were targeted by a criminal gang who raided their homes and transported stolen luxury goods to Ireland to exchange for drugs and weapons.
The Daily Mail reports that professional criminals linked to Dublin’s feared Gucci gang have been targeting players in Cheshire and Merseyside, teaming up with Albanian criminals to steal nearly €600,000 worth of watches, designer jewelery and other valuables.
Attempted robbery in Barcelona; photographer chokes thief with ‘mataleon’ move
They will store things if necessary or sell them in Ireland or Europe where they have important contacts in Spain.
The stolen goods will be sent by car across the Irish Sea to Scotland, where they will be received by the Gucci gang, a criminal organization led by jailed Glenn Ward, with links to the notorious Kinahan cartel (whose feud with the Hatch family has seen at least 18 people murdered).
“They store things if they want or sell them in Ireland or Europe, where they have important connections to Spain,” an underworld source told The Sun.
Glenn Ward, known as Mr Flashy, is serving a five-and-a-half year prison sentence for firing a semi-automatic pistol at a house party in Dublin.
Underworld insiders told The Sun how criminals who had previously targeted banks and armored vans had shifted their focus to footballers.
‘Ruthless’ robber tied up Ashley Cole in front of children: ‘I’m going to cut off her fingers’
Legendary English full-back Ashley Cole, who retired in August 2019 at the age of 38, was robbed by a masked thief at his home in Fetcham, Surrey, in January 2020.
In a violent robbery on January 21, six robbers “wearing camouflage and balaclavas” stole a large sum of jewelry.
The former Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Roma, LA Galaxy and Derby County player was tied to a chair during the attack and said he was left in “extreme shock” by the experience.
Ashley Cole was robbed and assaulted in her home, where the robbers tied her up with zip ties and threatened to cut off her fingers.
A robbery trial heard how Ashley Cole was tied up at knifepoint in front of her partner and two children, with one of the robbers suggesting his accomplice “cut off his fingers”.
Soccer players mobilize against residential burglaries, including dogs, special forces, panic rooms…
In recent years, footballers such as Jack Grealish (and his partner Sasha Attwood), Raheem Sterling, Alexander Isaac and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have been victims of assaults and robberies at their homes and estates.
Several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, employ security teams to protect the homes of their players.
Meanwhile, some stars have their own 24-hour mobile response teams in case of emergencies.
The Daily Mail reports that many Premier League players have invested thousands of euros in hiring former SAS commandos, buying guard dogs and installing panic rooms and geo-fencing to try to curb these robberies.
Jesse Lingard, Joao Cancelo, Victor Lindelof, Kurt Zouma, Paul Pogba, Raul Jimenez, Ashley Cole, Riyad Mahrez, Robin Olsen, Tahith Chong and Reece James are also among the footballers who have been robbed at home.
How do criminals from the Gucci gang stalk football stars?
Adam Popground reports that criminals are sifting through soccer players’ Instagram posts and those of their partners to detect valuables before assembling teams of thieves to orchestrate multi-million dollar raids.
They are professional criminals who know that the risk of being arrested for a domestic robbery is much lower than for an armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van.
They usually use telescoping ladders to enter homes when families are indoors, taking advantage of the fact that security systems are not working at that time.
One criminal underworld source told The Sun: “These are professional criminals who know that the risk of being arrested for a domestic robbery is much lower than for an armed robbery in a cash van. They are well organized and are not afraid to work with Albanian criminals who are experts at reconnaissance and finding weaknesses in security systems.”
