ROME -- A Romanian couple have been arrested on charges of theft, caught stealing luxury bags from various boutiques of the Eternal City’s famous Via dei Condotti, police sources say Tuesday.

 The Carabinieri of the Roman station of San Lorenzo have arrested a pair of Romanian citizens, not immediately identified, he aged 42, she aged 33, after being found in possession of luxury bags, stolen from the Phillip Plain, Christian Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton boutiques of Rome’s renowned Via dei Condotti.

 The couple were also found to have in their possession electronic instruments to inhibit the radio frequencies of anti-theft devices installed in the shops.

 The Carabinieri of San Lorenzo in Lucina, tasked daily with preventing every type of crime within the Eternal City, noticed that the two entered and exited the various high-fashion shops frantically. In particular, in front of the Louis Vuitton shop, the pair captured police attention as the man was spotted with a huge bulge under his jacket.

 At this point, police took action. The man was hiding a bag worth around 4,000 euros robbed from the French label and in his pocket was concealed an electronic device, a so-called ‘jammer,’ which inhibits radio frequencies specifically linked to anti-theft installations in shops.

 Once caught, the SUV Audi Q5 belonging to the couple was searched, parked in Via Sistina. Another three bags were recuperated as well as clippers used for the removal of magnetic tags attached to the items.

 The Carabinieri also discovered that the couple had undertaken criminal activity in various European cities where, through the use of the same technology, they had stolen luxury goods and photographed them, sending the photos to a series of contacts through instant messaging services.

 The expensive bags have been returned to the respective shops.

 A similar story occurred in the Eddy Monetti boutique in Naples overnight. This time, a gang of criminals had blocked the locks of the entrance to the shop with glue and entered the store through the cellar, robbing various items of clothing to a value which has not yet been quantified.

 The police immediately attended the scene when the alarm was sounded, however entering the building proved particularly difficult due to the glued locks, wasting valuable time.

 sw