Police caught five shoplifters red-handed in Antwerp's Wilde Zee shopping area last Tuesday, Belga News Agency reports. The women were found to have hidden 87 stolen items under their wide skirts.
Officers from the specialised shoplifting team of the Antwerp police recognised the women from previous acts of theft and begging, so they decided to follow them for a while through the shopping streets.
The women wore remarkably wide skirts and also carried two prams with babies. After they left a shop, the police saw the women pulling out items from under their clothes and distributing them to bags.
The police proceeded to check and found that they were cosmetics, jewellery and a scarf, all products sold in the shops the women had just visited. One of the women tried to throw away another petticoat with stolen goods in it.
The suspects were found to have hidden 87 stolen items under their skirts. The total value was more than €550. Everything was returned to the affected shops.
