Pair Murielle Bouchard
Published on 09/19/23 at 18:30 See my news Follow 76actu
Thursday, September 14, 2023, six people were arrested in flagrante delicto in the context of a vast trafficking of electric batteries for scooters and bicycles stolen in Le Havre and Paris.
The damage generated by its activity according to the gendarmerie press release of Tuesday, September 19, 2023, is estimated at around 1 million euros.
The stolen batteries were sent abroad
Stolen in Paris and Le Havre, “these scooter and bicycle batteries were sent abroad to extract the useful components,” indicates the statement from the national gendarmerie.
The investigations were carried out by the Air Transport Gendarmerie (GTA) and the Paris Investigation Section, under the direction of the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
An investigation began in July 2023, when investigative gendarmes from the SR GTA discovered that electric vehicle batteries were being packaged near the apron of Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.
Therefore, night surveillance is intensified, the national gendarmerie further indicates, “to identify the different actors in this trafficking, determine the mode of operation and establish their degree of participation.”
Operation mode
The gendarmerie explains the operating procedure in its press release: “A group of people, who act at night, is responsible for recovering the largest possible number of batteries (several dozen batteries per exit).
The stolen materials are then stored in trucks or stashes before being delivered to sponsors. The latter transport the batteries to a foreign country where they are dismantled. “Insulated cells are offered on resale websites.”
“Rotations” between France and abroad are carried out with a frequency of one trip every 10 days, which means at least one trip abroad per week. It should be noted that the batteries were packed without special precautions during these trips, in a rental or personal vehicle.
The six detainees imprisoned
On September 14, 2023, “an operation allowed 6 participants in this traffic to be detained in flagrante delicto during a delivery of batteries between individuals operating in France and the sponsors.” During the searches, 53 stolen batteries and 4,000 euros in cash were seized.
The six people were presented on Friday afternoon, September 15, 2023, before the Paris prosecutor’s office with a view to opening a judicial investigation. They are imprisoned.
It should be noted that in Le Havre, on the night of Friday, September 1 to Saturday, September 2, 2023, two men were arrested on suspicion of having stolen electric scooter batteries.
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