The police arrested 33 people as part of an international investigation into trafficking in stolen luxury watches, particularly in the Alpes-Maritimes.
The highly organized network relied on accomplice watchmakers.
The investigation revealed drug money laundering operations through the acquisition of his luxury watches.
Last week, 33 people were arrested in connection with a vast international traffic in stolen luxury watches, mainly in the Alpes-Maritimes and the tourist and upscale neighborhoods of several major European cities.
The Nice judicial police services have succeeded in getting their hands on "a large-scale criminal organization, having both a network of thieves and the means to sell this type of luxury goods on a large scale" , according to the statements of the assistant prosecutor in charge of the Jirs in Marseille Patrice Ollivier-Maurel.
The starting point of this investigation, opened on October 14, is based on an upsurge in luxury watch thefts, observed by the police.
Watches "highly coveted by collectors and enthusiasts due to their rarity on the market and are the subject of speculation that continues after the sale, which makes them a lucrative, safe and confidential investment" .
Stolen with violence
This network is based on a system that seems to be well established, comprising a network head, thieves, fences, repairing jewelers, bankers and launderers.
Luxury watches were regularly stolen by force, sometimes on command to get their hands on a particular model, for example by directly following a buyer out of a jewelry store.
“We are essentially on armed robbery, kidnapping or theft with violence”, notes Patrice Ollivier-Maurel.
The watches were then purchased at less than 50% of their value, and resold at the retail price and even beyond, after reconditioning and reconstitution of their original packaging.
“The members of this network also benefited from the complicity of watchmakers based in Nice, Paris, Lyon, Andorra and Antwerp,” continues Patrice Ollivier-Maurel.
The investigations also highlighted the proximity of the network to drug traffickers who laundered drug money through the acquisition of luxury watches.
Some of them resold them on the spot in Dubai and thus financed the acquisition of real estate.
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A known criminal with a luxurious lifestyle
During the various arrests, the police seized 152 luxury watches, 137,875 euros, 3 Audis and 3 kg of cocaine.
The suspects were arrested in the Alpes-Maritimes, Île-de-France, Rhône, Corsica, Marseille and Antwerp.
On June 24, five people were indicted, including four imprisoned, for money laundering, criminal association and concealment of thefts in an organized gang.
Among her is the head of this network, a 42-year-old man arrested in Nice and from the middle of Corso-Azure banditry.
According to the prosecutor, he had been "convicted several times for fraud and forgery, surrounded by cronies belonging to banditry and the economic sphere.
At the same time, the investigations revealed that the head of this network was leading great train between Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Bastia, Marbella and Paris.
The prosecution also requested two other warrants of deposit.
Two international arrest warrants have finally been issued against two Belgian suspects.
Nearly 200 French, Belgian and Spanish police officers were mobilized in this affair.
A drug trafficking network dismantled between Bordeaux and Lyon
An investigation opened after a violent attack in the streets of Nice
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