European investigators have managed to track down criminals who stole old Russian books from European libraries. As reported by Europol on Thursday, April 25, seven suspects with Georgian citizenship were detained in Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, France and Estonia on April 23 and 24, while two more are under judicial supervision in France.

`According to the report by the European police agency, more than 100 law enforcement officers were involved in searches in 27 locations in Georgia and Latvia. In addition to arresting four suspects, they also seized more than 150 books. One of the books stolen in France has already been returned.

In total, the criminal group is believed to be responsible for the theft of at least 170 rare books from national and historical libraries in Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, France, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in 2022 and 2023. The thieves' target was mainly books by Russian writers, in particular first editions of Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol. The financial damage is estimated at approximately 2.5 million euros. "Some of the stolen historical artefacts were sold through auction houses in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which effectively makes them irretrievable," Europol said in a statement.

Yuri B