Credit: Europol / Since 2017,   criminals were operating throughout Germany and Belgium, breaking cars and removing the navigation systems and multifunction steering wheels.

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

An organised crime network originating from Lithuania and specialised in the theft of car parts has been dismantled this week by the German Police of Heilbronn, together with the support of Europol, the Belgian Federal Judicial Police of Halle-Vilvoorde and Lithuanian Police in Panevėžys.  European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) reported that the dismantlement of the group has been carried out through six phases, the last one on 30 July in Panevėžys, Lithuania.  Europol said in the course of this operation €400 000 of stolen items have been recovered and 13 members of the organised crime group arrested. 

Credit: Europol /   Thieves targeting vehicles for car parts.  After being stored in external depots, the stolen items were then shipped to Lithuania for resale purposes. 

Since 2017, the criminals were operating throughout Germany and Belgium, breaking cars and removing the navigation systems and multifunction steering wheels. After being stored in external depots, the stolen items were then shipped to Lithuania for resale purposes.   According to Europol,  279 criminal cases for a total damage of €1.35 million have been attributed to this Lithuanian criminal group.    Europol provided analytical support to prepare for the actions, and deployed a mobile office on-the-spot in Lithuania to extract and analyse mobile phone data on the action day itself.
Europol, headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, supports  the 28 EU Member States in their fight against terrorism, cybercrime and other serious and organised forms of crime.  Europol also  works  with many non-EU partner states and international organisations.