French police break up international burglary network with support from INTERPOL and Europol

Nearly 20 individuals suspected of being part of a network of Georgian nationals linked to hundreds of burglaries and thefts across Paris have been arrested following an operation led by French law enforcement and supported by INTERPOL and Europol.

The suspected ringleader of the group, a Georgian national wanted by Swiss authorities after escaping from prison, was among those arrested as part of the investigation led by the French Central Office for Combatting Itinerant Delinquency (OCLDI) and SIT (Service d'investigation Transversale) a specialist crime unit in Paris.

The multi-level criminal network is believed to be responsible for a series of residential and  commercials thefts around the French capital and its suburbs. During the operational phase an INTERPOL Incident Response Team deployed to Paris, assisted the identification of those arrested through fingerprint scanning, provision of access to INTERPOL’s global databases and message exchange with its National Central Bureaus (NCBs) with significant support provided by NCB Tbilisi.

During the investigation Europol provided on the spot support through the use of a mobile office. Criminal intelligence was exchanged with the involved partners and on the spot analysis helped the investigators to link their targets to other EU investigations focusing on Russian speaking organized crime.

This is the second such investigation led by French authorities supported by INTERPOL and Europol, with future similar operations already planned.