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PEOPLE SMUGGLERS ARRESTED IN GERMANY AND POLAND
2014-01-31 The Hague, the Netherlands
With the support of Europol, five individuals of Russian nationality have been arrested in Germany and Poland, for the smuggling of irregular migrants.
Those arrested are suspected of being part an organised criminal network, composed of mainly Russian nationals with Chechen origin, who facilitated the illegal immigration of fellow country nationals via Poland to Germany.
The criminal group operated from various European countries and recruited Polish taxi drivers to transport the migrants across borders and to asylum centres in Germany. The group is suspected of smuggling more than 200 irregular Chechen migrants since March 2013, charging around EUR 1500 a time for the ‘service’.
On top of Wednesday’s two arrests in Germany and three in Poland, a number of house searches were carried out and important evidence was confiscated including computers, hard drives, mobile phones and SIM cards.
More than 170 officers from the German Federal Police - Regional Criminal Investigation Department Munich, plus officers from Polish and Belgian law enforcement authorities, were involved in the operation.
Throughout the investigation, Europol facilitated the exchange of intelligence and provided analytical support to the investigators.
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INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF ROMANIAN PAYMENT CARD FRAUDSTERS DISMANTLED
2014-01-29 The Hague, the Netherlands
Romanian and French law enforcement authorities, supported by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, have successfully dismantled a Romanian organised crime group involved in international payment card skimming and associated fraud.
During a raid on 17 January 2014, 11 suspects were arrested as they planned to travel to Italy to commit skimming attacks. Among them was the leader of the criminal group as well as the financers. In addition, 26 premises were searched and illegal equipment seized. Police also dismantled two factories producing skimming devices, including sophisticated miniaturised versions. This activity followed an earlier week-long surveillance exercise carried out by French and Romanian law enforcement officers.
Organised criminal groups are always looking for new global opportunities to make money, especially in the criminal market of payment card fraud. According to Europol research conducted among EU card fraud investigators, the main challenge for law enforcement agencies in combating this type of crime is its cross-border nature. Operations such as this highlight the importance of using Europol’s secure tools for exchanging intelligence, and for coordinating the crucial operational stages involved in complex international cases.
For information on how to minimise your chances of becoming a victim of payment card fraud, please visit our Crime Prevention Advice page.
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FIVE BULGARIANS ARRESTED FOR INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT CARD FRAUD
2014-01-27 The Hague, the Netherlands
Polish National Police, working with the State Agency for National Security in Bulgaria and supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), have smashed an international group of payment card fraudsters. Five Bulgarian citizens responsible for misusing financial data from several countries, counterfeiting payment cards and making illegal electronic transactions, were arrested in Poland.
Two of the offenders were caught red-handed, carrying out illegal electronic payment card transactions at automated teller machines (ATMs). Another three suspects were stopped in two different hotels in Krakow. As police officers entered one hotel room, a perpetrator was in the middle of receiving compromised card numbers online and encoding counterfeit plastic cards. All arrests were coordinated and took place almost simultaneously on 22 January.
Complete equipment to produce counterfeit bank cards was seized and included magnetic strip readers and writers, computers, phones and flash drives. Police officers also confiscated dozens of forged payment cards with records of PIN numbers, ready to be used at other ATMs, and a vehicle worth over EUR 25 000.
The perpetrators went to Poland with the clear intention of misusing payment card accounts compromised in other countries. Bank card numbers were sent online to the fraudsters, enabling them to produce counterfeit cards on-the-spot.
The Head of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), Troels Oerting, said: “This is another great example of joint efforts between Member States and EC3 to protect customers and electronic payments across the European Union (EU). Police forces in the EU are utilising Europol’s unique tools to make electronic payment transactions safer. We are continuously investing more resources into this vital support platform, and we can now see the results of this teamwork.”
During the investigation, EC3 supported the case by providing tailored intelligence analysis and expertise to the investigators. It was identified that the misused financial data came mainly from the United Kingdom. The investigation is still on-going and further arrests in the case are expected as suspects were working with gang members from Eastern Europe.
According to card fraud statistics published in July 2013 by the European Central Bank, about 20% of the value of all payment card fraud (EUR 232 million) results from ATMs, 25% from point-of-sale terminals (EUR 290 million), and more than 50% of the value of fraud (EUR 655 million) results from card-not-present payments such us payments made on the internet. With fraud involving ATMs, 95% of all counterfeit card fraud occurs outside Europe.
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TRACTOR THIEVES HALTED BY EUROJUST AND EUROPOL COORDINATION
2014-01-22 The Hague, The Netherlands
A joint operation between the French Gendarmerie (SR Limoges – OCLDI), Spanish Guardia Civil and Romanian National Police to stop the theft of tractors, coordinated by the judicial authorities of the involved countries and supported by Eurojust and Europol, was successfully carried out over the last two days in France, Spain and Romania.
An operational coordination centre (CC) was set up at Eurojust and run by the French National Desk with the assistance of the Hungarian, Spanish and Romanian National Desks and the Case Analysis Unit, which provided analytical support prior to and during the joint operation. The operation was also supported by Europol, which deployed staff to Spain and the CC, for real-time analysis and cross-checking of data.
The investigation began in France in November 2012 following the theft of three new John Deere tractors, and was led by an investigating magistrate of the Juridiction interrégionale spécialisée (JIRS) of Bordeaux. A link was subsequently discovered with ten other tractor thefts committed between November 2012 and March 2013 in various regions of France.
An organised criminal group (OCG), consisting of Romanian nationals living in Spain, travelled to France to commit the thefts. The stolen tractors, each of which is valued at approximately EUR 80 000, were loaded onto Romanian trucks heading to Eastern European countries, mainly Hungary and Romania. The financial damage caused by this OCG between April 2012 and October 2013 is estimated at approximately EUR 3 200 000. The main members of the OCG appear to be Romanians living and operating in a number of Member States, including Romania and Spain.
Since the beginning of the investigation, the French investigating magistrate sent six International Letters of Request and 10 European Arrest Warrants to the involved judicial authorities. The joint operation resulted in the arrest of nine suspects.
Additionally, several private premises were searched and significant seizures were made, including a large amount of mobile telephones and SIM cards, as well as cash, handguns and ammunition, GPS devices and forged identity cards.
Eurojust and Europol contributed significant added value by providing coordination and operational meetings during the investigation.
Eurojust facilitated the exchange of information on the targeted criminal organisation, scheduled an action day for the joint operation, held a coordination meeting in December 2013, and transmitted and executed mutual legal assistance requests and European Arrest Warrants.
Europol has just issued an Early Warning Notification (2014/2) to law enforcement authorities to increase awareness of the theft of agricultural machinery, including tractors. Although not a new phenomenon, the number of such thefts and the countries affected has increased, and two distinct modi operandi have been identified.
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COUNTERFEIT EURO PRINT SHOP BUSTED IN SPAIN
2014-01-22 The Hague, the Netherlands
On 15 January, Spanish National Police arrested five suspects belonging to an international organised criminal group responsible for the production and distribution of counterfeit euro and US dollar banknotes. In total, counterfeit euros worth EUR 14 750, counterfeit US dollars’ worth 90 000 and 16 000 genuine euros were seized.
Those arrested were three males of Spanish nationality and one male and one female, from Colombia.
The investigation started in 2013 and was led by the Spanish National Police, Brigada de Investigación del Banco de Espana and regional units UDYCO Costa del Sol, UDEV Jaénce, working with the Spanish National Bank and Europol, which is the EU’s central office for combating euro counterfeiting.
The full print shop was dismantled in Toledo, Spain, and all equipment to produce counterfeit euro banknotes was seized such as inkjet and laser printers, scanners, computers, pen drives, laminating machine, hot foil stamping devices, printing plates and clichés for 50 euros, inks, and metallic foil.
During the investigation, Europol hosted an operational meeting and provided tailored analytical and financial support to the investigators.
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TWO TURKISH NATIONALS ARRESTED FOR SMUGGLING COUNTERFEIT CANCER DRUGS
2014-01-17 The Hague, the Netherlands
In a joint law enforcement operation between Europol and the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), two Turkish nationals have been charged with smuggling counterfeit cancer treatment prescription drugs from Turkey and other countries into the United States.
The defendants obtained unapproved, misbranded, adulterated, and counterfeit cancer treatment drugs from various sources. They then used shipping labels that concealed the illegal nature of the prescription drug shipments, including customs declarations falsely describing the contents as ‘gifts’, ‘documents’ or ‘product samples’ with no or low declared monetary values.
They ensured that large drug shipments were broken into several smaller packages to reduce the likelihood of seizures by U.S. Customs authorities and the corresponding loss of expensive drug shipments. Some prescription drugs, which require constant cold temperatures to maintain their stability and effectiveness, were shipped in boxes without insulation or any temperature protection whatsoever. This was despite the length of time required to ship products from Turkey to the United States, putting patients at high-level risk.
Two men aged 39 and 40 years old from Istanbul, Turkey, were charged by indictment by a federal grand jury in St Louis, Missouri, with one felony count of conspiracy to smuggle merchandise into the United States and three counts of smuggling. Both were arrested in Puerto Rico on 17 January 2014. If convicted, each count of smuggling carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines up to USD 250 000.
Europol were able to provide important initial support to this investigation by hosting preparatory operational meetings with the FDA in The Hague in 2013. For the arrests, Europol counterfeit product experts were present with a mobile office in Puerto Rico to enable the crosschecking of criminal intelligence. The posting of a permanent Liaison Officer to Europol headquarters from the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations has been key to establishing a closer relationship with European law enforcement authorities to attack problems such as
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NETWORK OF 280 BURGLARS DISRUPTED IN FRANCE
2014-01-14 The Hague, the Netherlands
French law enforcement authorities,* working with Europol, have dismantled a Paris-based network of prolific burglars and arrested 15 individuals. Two of those arrested – an Albanian and a Romanian – are suspected of being the criminal network ringleaders. Searches of houses and other premises were carried out and resulted in the discovery of EUR 59 000 in cash in a private room of a Parisian bar.
The lengthy investigation started in December 2012 following the arrest of an Albanian citizen who committed a burglary in Reims. Subsequent inquiries revealed a vast and sprawling network of criminals, mainly from Albania, who were recruited by the two main suspects to commit burglaries within a 200 km radius of Paris. The network, composed of around 280 young suspects, was divided into three-member burglary teams who were methodically dispatched in the evenings or at night to cities located close to motorway exits.
In recent months, around 30 young ‘foot-soldiers’ were arrested red-handed with stolen jewellery, electronics and cameras in the suburbs of Paris. Intelligence suggests that the receivers of the stolen goods may be Albanian-speaking owners of legal businesses residing in other European capitals.
The criminal group also cooperated with Romanian and Bulgarian associates who could quickly procure cars and fake documents, which prevented them from being detected. Investigators estimate that more than 150 second-hand or stolen cars were used within the mobile network.
Europol enabled cooperation between French, Belgian, Swedish and Italian law enforcement authorities, where perpetrators had already been sentenced for similar offences. Throughout the investigation, Europol facilitated the exchange of intelligence, organised operational meetings, and provided tailored analytical support to the investigators. On an action day on 18 November, Europol deployed a mobile office to France to provide on-the-spot intelligence analysis support. Investigators seized computers, laptops, mobile phones and electronic devices that were forensically analysed by a Europol specialist.
* Gendarmerie of Reims (France) and the French Central Office for the Fight against Mobile Organised Crime Groups (OCLDI). OCLDI is the co-driver of the EU Multidisciplinary Action Plan against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) priority, which aims to reduce the general capabilities of mobile (itinerant) organised crime groups.
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