The Directorate for the Prosecution of Crimes Against Life and Property of the Organized Crime Directorate proceeded to dismantling a criminal organizationwhose members were active in committing thefts of luxury SUV-type cars, with the aim of exporting them abroad.

For the deconstruction of the criminal organization, it was held at noon on Tuesday in its areas of Niceof Peristeriou and of Acharnonan organized police operation of the Property Crimes Department, as part of which 3 members were arrested, aged 22, 45 and 68, following relevant warrants.

The case file also includes a 37-year-old, the leading member of the organization, who is hospitalized in a comatose state, as he was injured by a bullet in the head during an armed conflict, which took place on 29/8/23 in the surroundings of the Holy Temple in Menidi.

According to ELAS, a long-term investigation preceded, from which the existence of a criminal organization was established, the members of which, at least since October 2022, were stealing luxury cars, of a specific type (SUV), and then exporting them abroad to obtain an illegal financial benefit.

As emerged from the police investigation, the defendants had introduced and joined the criminal organization with a specific structure and distinct roles, while they carried out the thefts with specific course of action (modus operandi).

In particular:

  • moved in the evening hours in areas of Attica, looking for target vehicles,
  • after breaking into the vehicles with burglary tools, entering them and using special equipment to start them,
  • they moved and parked the vehicles in a place they had access to, having previously checked them and ensured that they did not carry GPS systems,
  • using forged documents, they transported the vehicles by road to a neighboring country, where they registered them taking advantage of the fact that it does not belong to the Schengen zone.

In addition, the members had distinct roles, namely:

  • 37-year-old, the leading member, coordinated all the other members, took care of guarding the stolen vehicles and transporting them to the country’s borders,
  • 22-year-old, received the stolen vehicles, installed fake number plates and driving licenses and transported them by road abroad,
  • A 45-year-old and a 68-year-old, due to the relevant knowledge they possessed, were responsible for securing appropriate registration numbers and drawing up fake plates and documents respectively.

As pointed out by the Police, a characteristic of their “professionalism”, in addition to the specialized knowledge they possessed, is that they possessed special technical equipment, particularly of great value, which is difficult to find in Greece, while in the past they had engaged in theft of wheeled vehicles.

From the investigations so far, 8 cases of car theft have been solved, the total value of which amounts to 215,000 euros and which were found and returned to their owners.

In searches carried out, a total of the following were found and seized:

  • 2 replica pistols,
  • 3 knives,
  • mobile crowd,
  • number of vehicle keys,
  • 21,325 euros,
  • number of fake license plates and licenses,
  • number of vehicle documents and stamps,
  • equipment to forge license plates and
  • luxury vehicle.

The arrested persons were taken to the competent prosecuting authority, while the investigations to fully ascertain the scope of their criminal activity continue.