Luxury cars, stolen from Italy and Spain and resold in Dubai. The network came from Eastern Europe and consisted of Romanians including Romanians
Cars in a parking lot in Dubai, April 21, 2024. Illustrative photography. Photo: Hamdi Bendali / Alamy / Profimedia
Italian, Spanish and Belgian police have destroyed a criminal network in Eastern Europe accused of theft of luxury cars and their traffic to Dubai for Revânză, the authorities in Italy and the EU announced on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The “Vâna” band cars in holiday resorts such as Dermi and Cortina forces, in Italy, and Marbella, from Spain. Vehicles were installed on tracking devices, which allowed thieves to act later, the Italian police said in a statement.
The cars – mostly models Range Rover, Lexus and Toyota – were then driven in Belgium, where chassis numbers were modified and fake or cloned registration plates were added, and then they were transported from the Antwar Port, the Italian police added.
The officers confiscated four stolen cars, kits for cloning car, jamming devices and other equipment used to open cars, neutralize alarm systems and GPSs and dismantle security transponents, to prevent subsequent tracking of stolen vehicles.
Eurojust and Europol, the EU judicial and police cooperation agencies, have contributed to the investigation of over 100 luxury cars, totaling at least 3 million euros (3.5 million dollars), since the beginning of 2024.
The operation on Tuesday targeted 24 suspects, most of them from the Republic of Moldova, but also from Russia, Romania and Ukraine, six of them being detained and three placed in house arrest, the Italian carabinieri, who led the investigations, announced.
