Thefts of jewelry, cars, vintage wines, contraband cigarettes, extortion, burglaries ... a network of Vory v Zakone, - "thieves in the law" - suspected of having committed numerous crimes in the western departments of France was dismantled on Tuesday morning.
According to our information, 24 suspected criminals, mainly from Georgia but residing in France, were arrested in La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), Deux Sèvres, Bordeaux (Gironde) or Pays de Loire, by investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Crime (OCLCO) with the support of the Raid intervention forces and the Research and Intervention Brigade.
Among them many "soldiers" but also a crowned head, a "Vor", 58 years old.
This leader, identifiable by his tattoos of eight-pointed stars, was arrested in La Roche-sur-Yon.
The searches that have not yet been completed are already proving successful.
In addition to 20,000 euros and a sawn-off shotgun found, the investigators seized several cars, around a hundred cartridges, clothing, around twenty Bordeaux Grands Crus, equipment allowing break-ins ...
The modus operandi was always the same: burglaries in houses or businesses, large-scale thefts carried out by “soldiers” who left in small groups to comb the chosen sectors.
Some thefts also gave rise to violent extortion.
The merchandise was partly sold in grocery stores run by Georgians - in particular cartons of cigarettes -.
Two mechanics were arrested in Deux-Sèvres and placed in police custody.
The "vors" established throughout Europe
The OCLCO investigators acted on a rogatory commission issued by a magistrate of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Rennes for acts of “theft, concealment in organized gangs, aggravated money laundering and criminal association”.
Police custody which must last 96 hours is likely to be not very verbose because in general the "thieves in the law", governed by a strict code of honor, show little talk.
These criminals are part of one of the most structured criminal organizations, with a hierarchy and significant resources.
Appeared in the 1920s in Russia, this order has supreme leaders, the “vor”, who direct the “smotryachi”, these lieutenants assigned to a sector and responsible for the control of the “chestiorki”, the thieves.
In exchange for the protection of the "Vor" and assistance in case of imprisonment, the thieves pay a sort of tithe, the "obshak" to the mafia.
Recently, investigators observed that, to escape police surveillance, the “vors” resided far from the network's intervention zone, but used a regional chief as an intermediary. *
"Established throughout Europe, the
Vor
must lead a sober life with a ban on marrying, working or denying their membership in the organization," explains the Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service on the organized crime (SIRASCO) in its 2018 report.
