By Dan Byrne for AMLi
FRENCH AUTHORITIES have made 18 arrests and seized €4 million in assets in a massive operation against a “highly structured” criminal network.
The group are suspected to have been involved in a laundering operation worth over €90 million per year – with the funds mostly coming from drug trafficking operations in various regions of France.
In a statement released Friday, Europol confirmed that the 18 arrested individuals had been taken into custody over several raids from 2019 until now.
“On 2nd November, an 18-month investigation led by the French National Gendarmerie and supported by Europol put an end to a large money-laundering network,” the statement read.
As part of the crackdown, authorities seized €2.5 million in cash, three apartments, nine vehicles, multiple bank accounts, 42kg of narcotics and three weapons.
The investigations against the criminal network commenced in 2018 when investigators in Lyon began linking the network to local drug dealers through cash monitoring, Europol said.
Further investigations led to the discovery of a system transporting dirty money, in cash, from France to Morocco. The money was routinely concealed in a fleet of trucks and other vehicles when crossing borders.
The trucks would wait to collect criminal proceeds at various points throughout France before moving it through Spain, with Morocco as the final destination.
The investigation was the result of a combined effort between four regional departments of the French Gendarmerie (one of two French police services – a military force with responsibility for smaller towns and borders) and Europol.
Europol’s input was largely the provision of information such as tracing, cross-checking and fund identification while French personnel carried out investigations.
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