Five foreigners who stand charged of carrying out a spate of burglaries in Sliema, St Julians and St Paul’s Bay in the past few months are part of an organized international criminal organization, a court heard today. The group members even use tattoos to denote their rank within the criminal gang.

These details emerged at the start of the compilation of evidence against 41-year-old Georgian Kartlos Dolaberidze, 30-year-old Krzysztof Tadeusz Latocha from Poland, 25-year-old Georgian Mate Onani, 27-year-old Adilet Shakirgazieva from Kyrgyztan and a person whose details are not officially known but claims to be Algirdas Sliogerism, 49, from Lithuania.

Inspector Kurt Zahra said forensic tests were carried out on the tattoos borne by one of the accused, which confirmed that he was part of the criminal network.

The court heard how the five foreigners always used the same modus operandi: they entered apartments and stole high-value items, usually money, gold and jewels. Electronic equipment was left behind. The burglars did not force the doors open, while victims would find socks lying around their homes.

Inspector Jonathan Ransley referred to a burglary that took place in Tigne Court, Sliema last year. He said the owner of the apartment left the building at 6pm and, upon returning, found that the door was not properly closed. Up to €50,000 in gold, jewels and other items had been stolen. The woman said the intercom had buzzed at around 4pm but the person, who spoke in Italian, told her he had buzzed the wrong number.

In another case some €25,000 worth of items were stolen from an apartment in Sir Adrian Dingli Street and, in another, items were stolen from Magistrate Ian Farrugia’s apartment.

The alleged burglars stole drinks and silverware from another house, where they left a knife behind.

The inspector said two of the accused were caught on CCTV footage while breaking into an apartment in Charles Court, Sliema. One of them was wearing a white shirt while the other was bearing black. Inspector Ransley said one of the men opened the door in around five seconds. The other waited outside for a bit then joined his partner. The two left the apartment 45 minutes later.

A pattern began to emerge, the Inspector said, where the burglars targeted two apartments from the same block of buildings and sometimes left items on the stairs.

The breakthrough in the police investigations came after the burglars targeted an apartment in Nazzareno Street, Sliema. The burglars stole some €9,000 worth of items but left a bus ticket behind. The ticket had been purchased in Qawra

Mr Ransley said the police had long suspected that the burglars were using the bus and that they lived in the Qawra area.

The police began looking at footage of bus stops in Qawra and Sliema and eventually traced the two men who had been filmed previously.

On 9 September, a police officer followed two suspects on board a bus. The two men were arrested when they got off the vehicle in St Paul’s Bay. They were Mr Tadeusz and Mr Dolaberidze. The latter was wearing the same clothes he had worn during one of the burglaries.

Eventually the police found that the two lived in Andrew Cunningham Street in Qawra. When officers raided the apartment they found the three other accused inside. The officers also found a piece of equipment used to open door locks similar to one that had been left behind in one of the burgled apartments. The search also yielded a number of ‘bump keys,’ jewellery, valuable watches, a small driller and tools used for key-making.

Inspector Ransley said the five foreigners chose not to give any information to the police. Mr Sliogeris said he would not say anything while the others said they were too scared to say where the stolen booty was being kept.

At the end of today’s sitting the court denied a request for bail, prompting Ms Shakirgazieva to burst into tears.

The case continues on 2 October. Lawyer Joseph Mizzi is appearing for the accused.