The National Police (Police nationale) France. (Wikipedia)

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  STAFF REPORT

French National Police (Police Nationale) and the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) arrested five suspects for their alleged involvement in a daring robbery of a high-end Paris bank off the Champs-Elysees avenue in 2019.  The arrests were assisted by the EU’s  law enforcement agency,   EUROPOL .   According to EUROPOL, in the early hours of 7 June, officers from the Police Nationale and the Guardia Civil carried out a series of coordinated raids close to Paris and Malaga (Spain). A total of five suspects – 3 French nationals and 2 Algerian nationals – were arrested for their involvement in the armed bank robbery. Armed robbers held up a bank off Paris’ famous Champs-Elysees avenue Tuesday, tying up employees for hours and breaking into safety deposit boxes, police said. Several men rushed into Milleis bank at opening time, tied up employees, and sprayed them with a mysterious liquid before rifling through some 60 safe deposit boxes and fleeing with their loot. The value of the stolen items is estimated at several millions of euros.

The arrests  took place in the region of Paris. A property owned by one of the suspects in Spain has also been seized in the framework of a Freezing Order.

-Europol support

Europol brought together the national investigators on both sides who have since been working closely together to prepare for the action day, according  to Europol. 

Since then, Europol has provided continuous intelligence development and analysis to support the field investigators

On the action day, a specialist from Europol’s Serious Organised Crime Centre (ESOCC) was deployed to Paris to assist the French authorities with the cross-checking of operational information. At the same time, a specialist from Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) was sent to Spain to assist the Civil Guard with asset recovery.

The investigation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).