Europol has uncovered a corporate criminal enterprise based primarily in Ukraine that specialized in the theft of high-end rental cars. Thirteen people were arrested.
“In an operation codenamed ‘Matador’, law enforcement authorities from France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Spain and Ukraine arrested 13 people responsible for large-scale thefts of luxury cars across Europe. Ongoing investigations have shown that the criminal group consists of more than 50 people from different countries and is responsible for the theft of at least 36 high-end cars,” Europol said on Friday.
The press release specifies that on May 21 this year, the authorities conducted more than 70 searches, which resulted in the seizure of six vehicles, forged documentation and license plates, as well as 132,165 euros in cash. “In Ukraine alone, police officers conducted more than 50 searches of the premises of persons involved in criminal activities, including those who recruited and helped with logistics,” the statement said.
Europol also informed that the international operation began with a Spanish investigation launched after car rental and leasing companies in the Malaga area reported the disappearance of luxury cars. “Investigators soon uncovered a criminal network that used the driving licenses and passports of vulnerable people to rent prestigious cars. Europol formed a task force with the participation of France, Spain, Poland and Ukraine to stop this criminal activity. As for the judicial side of the operation, Eurojust has set up a joint investigation team with the same countries,” Europol detailed.
According to the available information, for a year and a half, the authorities involved have been compiling an intelligence picture of the criminal network’s activities across Europe. In particular, the organization, based mostly in Ukraine, hired Ukrainian citizens to travel to the EU to rent luxury cars under their real names. In other cases, fake identity documents were used. As the criminals organized flights, hotel rooms, and other logistics, each person rented one or two cars, mostly in Spain or France.
After renting or leasing, the cars were handed over to contacts who organized the delivery of the vehicles by land or sea to various countries, including Lithuania, Germany, and Poland. At these processing plants, a separate branch of the organization, consisting of specialized car mechanics, prepared the vehicles for export. This included disabling the GPS transmitters installed in the vehicles, as well as forging and replacing license plates and other numbered parts of the vehicle. In some cases, the vehicles were completely dismantled for sale on the spare parts market.
After changing the identification numbers, members of the other branch used corrupt officials to legalize the cars and register them under their personal documents. This allowed them to sell the cars in the EU and abroad, to countries as far away as the United Arab Emirates or Asia. The whole process was financed by another branch of the organization, which is mainly based in Spain.
“Given the scale of the investigation into Operation Matador, as well as the high level of criminal expertise of its participants, Europol classified the main leader as a High Value Target (HVT). He maintained contacts with other organizations specializing in vehicle hijackings, which may be revealed in the coming weeks. On the day of the action, one Armenian citizen, one Lithuanian, two French, six Russians and three Ukrainians were arrested, including HVT,” Interpol reports.
In order to implement the operation, an operational center for coordination at the police level was established on May 21 in Malaga (Spain). The operation involved Ukraine (Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine, Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, Prosecutor General’s Office), France (National Gendarmerie), Latvia (Main Criminal Department of the State Police), Germany (Baden-Württemberg Police, North Rhine-Westphalia Police, Lower Saxony Police, Essen Prosecutor’s Office), Poland (Central Bureau of Police Investigations, Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office) and Spain (National Police, Investigative Court No. 1 of Málaga, Prosecutor’s Office).
