13 car thieves with expensive taste arrested by the French Gendarmerie

After almost two years of a complex and lengthy investigation, the French Gendarmerie, supported by Europol, swooped on a criminal network behind the trafficking of high-value vehicles, estimated of having generated €4 million in criminal revenue.

On the early morning of 14 January, 130 gendarmes carried out 13 house searches in Nimes (France), which resulted in the arrest of 13 suspects and the seizure of 26 vehicles. Several tens of thousands of euros were also frozen on bank accounts.
 
The illegal activities of this criminal network were carried across borders: after being stolen in Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands, the vehicles were ringed and sold locally in Nimes. The suspects focused on stealing prestigious brands, like Porsche and Lamborghini.
 
Involved in the investigation for the past year, Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided analytical support before and during the action day. A mobile office was deployed on-the-spot in Nimes to help with the cross-checking in real-time of operational information against Europol’s databases.