A Serbo-Croat criminal group suspected of carrying out hundreds of robberies across Europe, including Portugal, was dismantled last November in a Franco-Spanish operation, French authorities announced Saturday.
The Franco-Spanish investigation team made 25 arrests of members of this group, made up of about 60 people, considered well structured, functioning as a “clan operation”, which included from teams of robbers to trustees, including those responsible for money laundering. The collected money.
The criminal group was organized around a family that led robbery teams made up of its members and had firm instructions to submit results regularly, according to a French police statement.
Between July 2021 and October 2022, the group toured Europe, committing hundreds of robberies in Portugal, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Austria, causing damage of several million euros, according to the authorities.
In the summer of 2021, police from several countries, in a coordinated manner, began to monitor the activity of two dozen people, through intense surveillance work,
In September 2022, a Franco-Spanish investigation team was created, under the auspices of Eurojust and with the support of Europol – two European crime prevention and investigation agencies – to ensure better coordination of operations in various countries.
On November 22, 25 people between the ages of 20 and 40 were arrested in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Croatia and Italy.
Among the members of the group arrested, 17 appear in the French file and eight in the Spanish one.
During the searches, 550,000 euros in counterfeit bills, vehicles, weapons, jewelry and luxury items were seized.
Of the 25 involved, 23 were prosecuted by French or Spanish magistrates and two are under house arrest in Italy and the Netherlands, waiting to be handed over to French justice, the authorities added in a statement.
Source: TSF
