Paris gang leader sentenced for trafficking children to steal from tourists

A Paris tribunal convicted Roberto Hamidovic, a 48-year-old Bosnian-Roma clan patriarch, of people-trafficking after he directed a ring of under-age thieves who stole from tourists in the metro, Disneyland Paris and other sites, earning large sums of money. He was sentenced to the maximum eight years in prison, while his wife Lejla received six years; two sons, a nephew and two female relatives were given terms ranging from five to seven years and fines.

The prosecution described a system in which girls as young as ten were forced to steal, with beatings, burns or sexual abuse used as punishment for shortfalls. The network operated across multiple European nations and was previously investigated after the 2010 arrest of Hamidovic’s uncle Fehmi, who had been convicted in Austria. Authorities said the family enjoyed luxury goods, five-star hotels and expensive cars, whereas the child thieves lived in low-cost hotels or derelict dwellings.

The court ordered the convicted members to be extradited after release and barred them from re-entering France. Prosecutor Alice Guillet emphasized that severe, long-term sentences are needed to break the cycle of exploitation.