Child Pickpocket Network in Paris Dismantled: Clan Leader Sentenced to 8 Years, Lessons for Indonesia

The Paris court sentenced Roberto Hamidovic, 48, the clan leader who controlled a network of child pickpockets in the Paris Métro and Disneyland Paris, to eight years in prison. He was also fined €500,000 (around Rp8.5 billion). The verdict marks the end of a legal pursuit of a syndicate that had operated for decades and was allegedly responsible for up to 75% of thefts on the French capital's underground transport.

Hamidovic was no ordinary thief. He led a Bosnian Roma clan that systematically recruited children, mainly girls, some as young as 10, to pickpocket tourists. During the trial it emerged that victims who failed to hand over a certain amount of money would be beaten, burned, or sexually abused. On average, the syndicate collected €25,000 per day from the proceeds of those crimes.

The judge did not convict Hamidovic alone. His wife, Lejla, received six years in prison and a €300,000 fine. Two of their sons, a nephew, and two female relatives were each sentenced to five to seven years in prison. All those convicted were ordered to be deported and banned from entering France after their release. They had previously denied all charges.

Prosecutor Alice Guillet revealed that the Hamidovic family exploited the minors' status to avoid legal consequences. "They used children to ensure a kind of impunity," she said. The young pickpockets were trained to lie about their age, so police were forced to release them because they were below the age of criminal responsibility in France. Guillet described the lives of the girls as "challenging and painful" — children without roots, without a future, whose birth dates were often unknown even to their parents.

A Le Monde investigation revealed that Roberto Hamidovic Jr, 22, Hamidovic's son, nicknamed Gony, oversaw daily operations. He arranged taxis to transport six to nine children each day to Disneyland Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Métro stations. At Disneyland, they infiltrated the crowds at the night parade; at ATMs, they watched victims enter their PIN, then swarmed them and snatched money and wallets. These small perpetrators became a ruthless money machine.

"In dealing with a system like this, the only tool is firmness. This sends a message," Guillet said, stressing that heavy sentences and deportation were needed to break the chain of impunity that had lasted three generations.

This case is not the first. In 2010, French police arrested Fehmi Hamidovic, Roberto's uncle, who had been convicted of human trafficking in Austria. Fehmi was then sentenced to seven years in prison in 2013. After that, Roberto took control of the clan. This pattern shows a cycle that is hard to break: exploited children grow up to become perpetrators, as Guillet acknowledged, "They move from victim to perpetrator."

For Indonesia, this case is an important mirror. Organized crime involving children is not an exclusively European phenomenon. Indonesia faces similar challenges, from street children recruited to beg to human trafficking networks. Weak cross-border coordination and child protection are gaps that syndicates can exploit. The Indonesian government needs to strengthen international cooperation, especially on extradition and intelligence data exchange, to prevent similar syndicates from operating domestically.

In addition, the prevention aspect through education and social welfare cannot be ignored. Many child victims come from vulnerable families without official identity documents. In Indonesia, rootless children like these are easy targets for crime. Child protection programs must reach them before syndicates recruit them first.

Hamidovic's lawyer, Emperatriz Aguirre, called the sentence too heavy because there was no concrete evidence of human trafficking. However, the facts of the trial showed otherwise. After the seven convicted were arrested, dozens of exploited children disappeared or fled from shelters. Nearly half of them are of unknown whereabouts. This indicates that victim recovery is as important as action against perpetrators.

Going forward, will this verdict truly break the chain of cross-generational crime, or will it merely become a new chapter in the same cycle? The answer depends on how seriously countries, including Indonesia, build a child protection system that no syndicate can penetrate.