Fifteen men suspected of the theft of around sixty high-end cars were arrested by the gendarmerie on Tuesday in Gironde, the prosecution announced, with damage estimated at three million euros according to a source close to the investigation.
The fifteen suspects, born in 2007 for the two youngest, in 1964 for the oldest, were arrested thanks to a vast system mobilizing 200 gendarmes, in one of the “clearance” operations desired by Emmanuel Macron.
These individuals from Gironde are suspected of having perpetrated these thefts by “home-jacking” (burglary in the presence of the victim) in 2023 in the Arcachon basin sector, the north of Landes and the south of Charente-Maritime .
Night flights, organized in groups
According to the Libourne (Gironde) public prosecutor's office, the suspects were arrested in the north of Gironde and the Bordeaux metropolitan area and then placed in police custody.
“Locating their victims and acting in teams of two or three, they preferably operated at night,” prosecutor Loïs Raschel wrote in a press release.
“This group organized vehicle thefts, the neutralization of geolocation systems as well as the resulting concealment network.
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The investigation into aggravated theft by an organized gang, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy, opened at the end of the summer, was entrusted to investigators from the Bordeaux research section and the departmental gendarmerie group (GGD33).
On Tuesday, the latter received support from several other units, including the GIGN branch in Toulouse.
The head of state announced last week that he wanted ten “clearance” operations each week, in particular against drug trafficking.