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thrive

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Registered: 2023-01-04

Posts: 2,068

28 arrests made as France and Spain go for the 'Thief in Law'

In dismantling a sizable criminal organization of so-called "Thieves in Law" (Vory V. Zakone), who were engaged in aggravated property crime, racketeering, extortion, and money laundering, Europol assisted the French National Police (Police Nationale) and the Spanish National Police (Polica Nacional). The investigation revealed that the criminal network was engaged in the theft, sale, and smuggling of goods, including tobacco, as well as the laundering of illicit funds.

The French Criminal Police has been looking into people who may be associated with the criminal organization known as "Thieves in Law" since November 2020. An extensive Armenian criminal organization with bases in France and Spain and a Thief in Law in Spain at its helm was discovered during the investigation, which was overseen by specialized magistrates from the Court of Paris.

The majority of the money laundering was done in Spain, mostly through auto mechanics and a caviar import shop in Barcelona. With the help of operational analysis, Europol supported the operation by facilitating information sharing and organizing operational meetings. This allowed the national authorities to identify connections between the suspects and their criminal activity. To aid investigators in the field with technical know-how and real-time analytical support, Europol also sent experts there.

The result of the protest days on June 19 and 20 was.
38 house searches in France (Clermont-Ferrand, Metz, Lyon, Marseille, Paris) and Spain (Alcasser, Barcelona, Lloret de Mar and Valencia)
28 arrests in France and Spain
Arrest of the chief ‘Thief in Law’
Seizures include 16 luxury watches (one of them valued at EUR 39 000), 8 vehicles, 6 weapons with ammunition, 1 bullet-proof vest, 2 GPS detection devices, over EUR 60 000 cash, numerous mobile phones and electronic devices, as well as various pieces of ‘Thieves in Law’ paraphernalia.

In November 2020, the police in France and Spain began working together to investigate this criminal organization. The links between the suspects were revealed, as well as the extensive spread of the network, during earlier independent investigations by French and Spanish police into a number of members of the criminal organization, many of whom were of Armenian and Georgian nationality. The investigation was advanced through later international cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities, with help from Europol's analysis, which revealed the members of the criminal organization's leadership's previously well-kept connections.

A prior assassination attempt by a criminal leader was investigated.
This network adhered to the "Thieves in Law" code of conduct, a particularly well-organized form of a criminal organization that emerged from the criminal underworld of former Soviet countries. In this particular network, there were strict codes of conduct that protected the leader and were designed to ensure the network's survival. The leader's position of authority over the other criminal organization members was guaranteed by the title he holds.

In connection with an attempted assassination of a rival "crowned" thief, the Spanish national police conducted an investigation and detained this person in 2018. In order to avoid police action against the organization's leader, the criminal network responded by stepping up its security measures. This included the use of various vehicles registered in the names of organization members and a house that was also rented out under a different name. The leader's vehicles would be routinely inspected at the organization's workshops to look for electronic tracking devices that may have been put in place by the police. Financial investigators focused on the criminal actors' assets thanks to the close cooperation between French and Spanish authorities and the assistance of Europol in identifying criminal activities and links between them. The network's boss is currently being held in Spain while France's European arrest warrant for him is being processed.