The criminal group, made up of French, Gambian and Senegalese nationals, benefited from a mobile and flexible criminal structure, where so-called “coordinators” would place orders for certain models of vehicles to car thieves located throughout France.
(TOP: More than 170 vehicles were shipped from European ports. SUVs were stolen on demand in France and shipped to West Africa).
Once stolen, the vehicles would then be driven to various ports in Europe – often by minors – in order to be concealed in cargo containers and shipped to West Africa. Authorities have so far identified more than 170 vehicles that have been transported from Belgian, Dutch, French, German and Spanish ports.
On 12 September, more than 110 officers, including tactical and canine units, raided locations across France, resulting in the arrest of suspected thieves, logisticians and the two main “coordinators” in France of the criminal enterprise.
INTERPOL’s Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) unit has played a key role in supporting the investigation since 2021, through the analysis of data in INTERPOL’s SMV database, providing information on suspected routes, and deploying officers.
Stephen Kavanagh, INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services, said: “Vehicle crime generates significant revenue for organized crime groups. We’ve seen that by sharing data between countries we can successfully disrupt their business model and ensure those responsible face justice.”
In 2022, around 278,000 motor vehicles worldwide were identified as stolen thanks to the SMV database. Some 135 countries shared national stolen vehicle data and carried out nearly 350 million searches.
The countries which participated in the operation were: France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
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