The pigeon heist: How racing birds became the target of organized crime

"LIMBURG, Belgium - The Chinese businessmen arrived in the Belgian countryside driving luxury sports cars, ferrying translators and bags of cash. When they parked in front of Tom Van Gaver's small brick farmhouse, he knew why they had crossed the world to see him. They wanted his pigeons. Van Gaver, 38, had been breeding racing pigeons since he was 5. It was a hobby he inherited from his father who inherited it from his great grandfather."

"Then the Chinese discovered pigeon racing. They learned that the most refined pigeon lineages were in the Belgian countryside. And some of the very best were in Van Gaver's backyard. Beginning in around 2019, wealthy Chinese industrialists started spending millions on Belgian pigeons. That year, a pigeon named Armando sold for $1.4 million at an auction outside Brussels. In 2020, another bird named New Kim sold for $1.9 million."

Chinese businessmen traveled to the Belgian countryside in luxury cars with translators and cash to purchase top racing pigeons. Tom Van Gaver, 38, has bred racing pigeons since age five, inheriting the hobby through generations. His pigeons can find their way home from hundreds of miles away and fly about 50 miles per hour, performing strongly in national races. Flemish pigeon fanciers were historically small-scale farmers. Around 2019, wealthy Chinese industrialists began spending millions on elite Belgian pigeon lineages, and auctions produced multimillion-dollar sales.

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