An “
international network of fences
”, specializing in the resale of stolen luxury watches, has been dismantled in the South of France, the judicial and police authorities announced on Monday June 27 at a press conference.
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Nine people are suspected of being involved in this vast traffic which led to the opening of a judicial investigation for "
criminal association
", "
concealment of theft in an organized gang
" and "
laundering
".
Among them, five have been indicted, four of whom have been imprisoned and two others are "
being presented
" to a judge, officials from the Nice PJ and the Marseille prosecutor's office said at a joint press conference ( competent in matters of organized crime).
Two European arrest warrants have also been issued against two people residing in Belgium.
Stealth, sometimes with violence
Started in the summer of 2021, the investigation initiated by the judicial police (PJ) of Nice (south-east) uncovered a "
large-scale criminal organization with the means to sell luxury products on a large scale
" , insisted Florent Mion, head of the Nice PJ.
For several years, “
hundreds of watches
”, whose value could vary from 10,000 to 400,000 euros, have been stolen, sometimes violently, in several European cities.
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The thieves, who could sequester their victims, resold their loot at half price to the presumed leader of this network, a 42-year-old Corsican, who then sold them at new price.
The latter called on watchmakers and jewelers in Nice, Lyon, Paris, Andorra or Antwerp who ensured that the origin of these numbered luxury watches disappeared and repackaged them in packaging, thus falsifying their “
traceability
”.
“Very high-flying crook”
The watches were sold both to “ bona fide
” customers
and to drug traffickers who used the watches to launder drug money abroad, notably in Dubai, by buying real estate.
A "
double-sided
" character, capable of "
seducing his customers
" as "
of intimidation
", according to Florent Mion, the alleged leader of the network, who did not recognize the facts, was described as a "
very high crook theft
”.
"
Member of banditry
“, he knew drug traffickers whether in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, in Corsica or in the Paris region.
Stopped near Nice, the man multiplied the journeys between the Côte d'Azur, Spain, Paris, Dubai and Belgium.
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A total of 152 watches, 137,000 euros in cash, 3 vehicles and 3 kg of cocaine as well as blank certificates of authenticity and spare parts with non-visible serial numbers were found, "
concealed
" in France and Belgium during the arrests carried out between June 21 and 23.
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