A Barcelona-based electric bike brand has suffered a devastating burglary at its warehouse in Catalonia, LaBosch confirming more than 115 e-bikes were loaded onto a lorry by an organised crime gang during the overnight raid.
The brand took to Instagram to tell customers and the wider industry of the crime, LaBosch keen to warn other manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to “heighten their vigilance” due to the organised nature of the break-in.
CCTV footage shared on social media showed hooded figures, believed to be seven or eight members of a highly organised gang, leaving with more than 100 new electric bikes in a lorry, along with 17 bikes belonging to customers.
The raid happened in the early hours of Monday morning at LaBosch’s main warehouse in Cardedeu, near La Roca Village, an open-air shopping destination around 40 minutes’ drive from the centre of Barcelona. The value of the stolen goods has not yet been disclosed, but with more than 100 new e-bikes, 17 customer bikes, clothing and equipment it almost certainly stretches into hundreds of thousands of euros.
LaBosch warned other bike brands that the incident was “not an isolated theft” and appeared the work of “organised gangs that operate at dawn, co-ordinated and quickly”.
“We want to alert other businesses in the sector and the area to increase their vigilance, and to our customers, I want to make it very clear that we at LaBosch are continuing to operate as normal,” the brand said in a video shared on social media. “We will restock our other stores and continue working with our long-time suppliers and customers.
“We need you now more than ever. And to all of you who are considering buying an electric bike right now, your support and trust in LaBosch will make all the difference. We’ve been hit hard, but we are the voice, and we will come back stronger. Follow us and show your support.”
The high-value nature of bikes has seen manufacturers, professional teams and retailers become a concerningly common target for organised crime in recent years, perhaps most famously when Romanian police recovered 21 Italian team bikes stolen from the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Roubaix back in 2021. The £500,000 haul, which also saw mobile phones, drugs and around £5,000 worth of cash seized, included Filippo Ganna’s gold Pinarello and numerous £25,000 track bikes featuring a titanium 3D-printed handlebar, alone worth £8,500.
In 2024, a raid at Shimano’s Experience Center in Valkenburg, in the Netherlands, saw six bikes “beyond any monetary value” stolen. The bikes were ridden to some of professional cycling’s greatest victories in the modern era and made “irreplaceable” by extraordinary performances by names such as Peter Sagan, Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal.
A year earlier, Italian bike manufacturer Pinarello was hit by a double burglary at its showroom in Treviso, masked thieves taking 19 bikes worth a total of €250,000 during two separate raids on the same day.
