A criminal group involved in car thefts across the Attica region has been dismantled following a joint operation by the Southeastern Attica Crime Investigation and Detection Subdivision, the Lavrio Crime Investigation and Detection Department, and the Kropia Crime Investigation and Detection Department. According to an announcement by the Greek Police (ELAS), after evaluating and utilizing intelligence information, a task force consisting of officers from the aforementioned services was immediately formed to identify and arrest the perpetrators. In this context, on September 10, five individuals aged 18, 24, 46, 47, and 60 were arrested in the areas of Markopoulo and Keratea by officers from the above services with the assistance of the Special Operations Unit (O.P.K.E.), as members of the criminal organization, confirming their criminal activities. As emerged from the police preliminary investigation, the accused had formed and joined a criminal group at least since early September of this year, with the purpose of committing car thefts. Subsequently, they proceeded to falsify basic circulation elements such as chassis numbers and license plates, in order to give a legitimate appearance to the vehicles’ circulation and sell them, obtaining illegal financial gain. The announcement also notes that to avoid detection and arrest, the accused had installed image recording systems with cameras outside their homes, monitoring the surrounding areas for any police presence.
During searches conducted at the arrestees’ homes, authorities found and confiscated a rifle, hunting ammunition, numerous tools used for falsifying circulation documents, car keys, a large number of car parts, as well as four vehicles.
It is noted that three of the arrestees have previously been involved with authorities for related offenses.
The arrestees, along with the case file against them, were brought before the competent prosecutor.
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