CRIME NETWORK BEHIND HUNDREDS OF BURGLARIES DISMANTLED BY FRENCH POLICE
http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News-media-releases/2012/N20120607bis
June 7, 2012 Thursday 8:51 PM EST
An operation led by French law enforcement, and supported by INTERPOL
and Europol, targeting a crime network of Georgian and Armenian
nationals believed to be linked to more than 300 burglaries has
resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals and the recovery of a
substantial amount of gold and jewellery.
The network - structured over several levels, with burglars, team
leaders and coordinated by at least one 'thief-in-law,' a criminal of
high-ranking within the network who acts as a controller and regulator
- is suspected of a series of residential and commercial thefts around
Limoges, the north of France and Belgium, with the stolen goods sent
to Belgium for selling on.
The investigation, led by France's Central Office for Combating
Itinerant Delinquency and the Gendarmerie of Limoges, was supported
from the early stages by Europol specialists who facilitated the
exchange of criminal intelligence, delivered analytical reports and
supported the operation on the spot with a mobile office.
During the operational phase on June 4, INTERPOL provided onsite
support assisting the identification of those arrested through
on-site fingerprint scanning, provision of access to INTERPOL's global
databases and message exchange with its National Central Bureaus.
The number of arrests and seizures are provisional and likely to
increase in the next few days as the operation continues.
http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News-media-releases/2012/N20120607bis
June 7, 2012 Thursday 8:51 PM EST
An operation led by French law enforcement, and supported by INTERPOL
and Europol, targeting a crime network of Georgian and Armenian
nationals believed to be linked to more than 300 burglaries has
resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals and the recovery of a
substantial amount of gold and jewellery.
The network - structured over several levels, with burglars, team
leaders and coordinated by at least one 'thief-in-law,' a criminal of
high-ranking within the network who acts as a controller and regulator
- is suspected of a series of residential and commercial thefts around
Limoges, the north of France and Belgium, with the stolen goods sent
to Belgium for selling on.
The investigation, led by France's Central Office for Combating
Itinerant Delinquency and the Gendarmerie of Limoges, was supported
from the early stages by Europol specialists who facilitated the
exchange of criminal intelligence, delivered analytical reports and
supported the operation on the spot with a mobile office.
During the operational phase on June 4, INTERPOL provided onsite
support assisting the identification of those arrested through
on-site fingerprint scanning, provision of access to INTERPOL's global
databases and message exchange with its National Central Bureaus.
The number of arrests and seizures are provisional and likely to
increase in the next few days as the operation continues.