Six individuals were arrested and placed in police custody by the gendarmerie on April 25 and 26 at Trois Lacs (Eure),
Le Figaro
learned from a source familiar with the matter.
The defendants are suspected by the investigators of having taken part in a small network of commercial vehicle thieves, associated with the trafficking of automobile spare parts.
The case starts with another theft: the gendarmes of the Rouen research section were investigating the disappearance of 50 tonnes of copper stolen last February from a company in Val d'Hazey (Eure), when they discovered the existence of a team of individuals specializing in the theft of utility vehicles in the Eure and its neighboring departments.
An investigation is opened for "
criminal association and organized gang theft
".
The modus operandi of the suspects is quickly identified: the suspects, who went to the scene at the wheel of a Mégane RS, waited until nightfall to take action, stealing the utilities to hide them in a real clandestine car workshop. .
The place, a small plot located on the banks of the Seine and at the foot of a cliff dug for the occasion, hosted stolen vehicles.
These were then stripped and their parts (wheels, doors, engines, etc.) packaged for resale on the second-hand market.
To do this, the authors had many professional tools allowing them to cut out and disassemble the parts of the utilities.
Read alsoCopper thefts: the great rush of banditry towards “red gold”
70 vehicle ignition keys found in the sweatshop
With the help of gendarmes from the Surveillance Observation Group, the Rouen search section managed to identify two vehicle thefts committed in Eure and Eure-et-Loir.
Investigators arrested five individuals and searched the clandestine workshop.
On site, the soldiers discovered a large number of spare parts stored in vans and ready for resale, as well as professional equipment for cutting parts.
The gendarmes, supported by the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie, also identify around fifteen stolen and dismembered vehicles, 70 vehicle ignition keys scattered in the workshop and stolen tools.
The economic damage is estimated at 400,000 euros.
The five individuals arrested were already known to the courts.
A sixth suspect, presented as the alleged receiver of the spare parts, was arrested the day after the search of the workshop.
The defendants should soon be brought before a magistrate of the Evreux court for a judgment in immediate appearance.
