Paris Clan Leader Sentenced to Eight Years for Running Child Pickpocket Network

Roberto Hamidovic, 48, was sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking by a Paris court, in a ruling reported on 24 September 2026. The court also fined him €500,000.

Hamidovic, described as the patriarch of a Roma family of Bosnian origins, ran a network of child pickpockets aimed at tourists in the Paris Metro and Disneyland Paris, according to police and court accounts reported by The Guardian. The children were mostly girls, some as young as 10. Police said the network brought in an average of €25,000 per day.

Seven members of the clan, four men and three women, were tried for human trafficking, organised theft, corruption of minors, money laundering and criminal association. Human trafficking here means exploiting people for profit, while money laundering means passing illegal cash through other channels to hide its source. Lejla Hamidovic, the wife of Roberto Hamidovic, was sentenced to six years in prison and fined €300,000. Two sons, a nephew and two female relatives received prison terms of between five and seven years. The convicted members were ordered to be extradited and banned from entering France on release.

The operation followed a daily pattern. Groups of six to nine youngsters were sent each day to Disneyland Paris, Charles de Gaulle airport and the Metro to target foreign tourists. Investigators attributed to the clan up to 75% of thefts in the Paris Metro. The daily deployment relied on close supervision and rapid movement between crowded tourist sites.

Oversight stayed in the family. Roberto Hamidovic Jr, 22, nicknamed Gony, oversaw pickpocket gangs on behalf of his father, booking taxis to transport them. The Paris court heard that children who failed to hand over enough money were beaten, burned or sexually abused. Control, in the prosecution account, combined family authority with physical punishment.

The sums were large. Roberto Hamidovic and his wife are believed to have amassed an estimated €2m. The prosecution presented the couple as the leaders of the network, a characterization reported during the trial by 20 Minutes. Investigators pointed to cash flows from street theft converted through family channels, the basis for the money laundering charges.

The case follows a family history. Roberto Hamidovic took control of the clan after his uncle Fehmi Hamidovic was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to seven years in prison. The name Hamidovic itself denotes a pickpocketing ring whose factions form and dissolve through marriages between members and arrests, according to Le Monde. Succession passed within the family. Methods persisted.

Prosecutors had requested prison sentences of five to nine years for the defendants, with seven years in prison and a 200,000 euro fine sought for Lejla Hamidovic, as reported by TVA Nouvelles. The final penalties were heavier in financial terms for both alleged leaders. Roberto Hamidovic received eight years rather than the upper end of the requested range. His wife received six years with a larger fine than requested.

One story from the trial showed how kinship and recruitment overlapped. A young pickpocket known as Alessandra was nicknamed "the Ronaldo of theft" for her theft skills. Her father is a cousin of Roberto Hamidovic. Children entered the network through family ties. Exit was punished.

French police had broken up a large European pickpocket network composed mostly of girls from the Balkans aged between 12 and 16 in an earlier operation reported in December 2010. That case involved similar ages and cross-border movement. The current convictions address a later iteration under different leadership.

The broader context here is a pattern built on minors, mobility and tourist concentration. Children face a lower likelihood of prolonged detention. Tourist hubs offer a steady flow of possible victims. Taxis, small groups and daily rotation make surveillance harder. It works a bit like shift work in a busy shop, with small crews rotated to where crowds are thickest. A €25,000 daily average, if sustained, helps explain both the estimated €2m accumulation and the capacity to absorb arrests and reconstitute factions.

Looking at what this means for enforcement, the Paris sentences pair long custody with removal. Prison terms of five to eight years keep adult organizers off the streets. Extradition and a ban on re-entry aim to prevent re-establishment in France. The history from Fehmi in 2013 to Roberto in 2026 points to succession as the test. Convictions remove individuals. The network logic described in court, fluid factions held together by marriage and coercion, is built to outlast them.