The after-sales service on his exclusive racing bike purchased in Switzerland cost a man from the northern Black Forest dearly: The German Gümmeler had bought the high-quality bike, worth the equivalent of around 13,600 euros, in Switzerland and brought it into Germany in his car via the Rheinfelden-Autobahn border crossing at the beginning of December 2021 without declaring it at the customs office.

A thousand e-bikes are stolen every day in German-speaking countries, according to the manufacturer of a GPS tracking system for e-bikes rather than an administrative body. According to federal crime statistics, 4423 reports of stolen e-bikes were received in Switzerland in 2019.
Image: ©Maria Kirchner Photography

The Bern cantonal police have arrested a suspected bicycle thief to whom they attribute a three-digit number of stolen bikes. The bikes were stolen between summer 2019 and 2020. The police emphasize that stolen bikes can only be reported some time after the incident and that only reports of theft can confirm suspicions.