Vitebsk region police stopped the activities of five groups of dacha thieves over the winter

March 28, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Law enforcement officers of the Vitebsk region have suppressed the activities of five criminal groups specializing in thefts from dacha cooperatives during the winter period. This was announced today to journalists by the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Naydenko, BELTA correspondent reports. "The detained groups consisted of 3-4 people who went to steal in dacha settlements as if it were a job. For example, one of the groups has 15 episodes of criminal activity," the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate said. He emphasized that law enforcement agencies pay the utmost attention to the prevention and suppression of these crimes: numerous preventive measures are regularly carried out in the regions, meetings with people in work collectives, and at their places of residence. "All this work yields certain results: the Vitebsk region ranks third in the republic in terms of theft detection. In addition, over 3.5 years, we have managed to prevent about 2.5 thousand thefts," Alexander Naydenko summarized. In total, since the beginning of the year as of March 28, almost 1.6 thousand thefts have been committed in the Vitebsk region, which is 150 cases more compared to the same period last year. Moreover, 75% of thefts are committed from dwellings through free access, when after a superficial acquaintance with random acquaintances, accompanied by drinking alcohol, people invite them into their homes, and then discover the disappearance of phones, valuables, and money. From dachas during the winter period (from November 2011 to the present), 160 thefts have been committed in the region, which is 2% more compared to last year's level. -0-