The investigation, carried out jointly by the research brigade of the gendarmerie company of Rezé and the interministerial research group of Nantes, started in June, in Saint-Philbert-de-Grandlieu. And she wears on the theft and concealment of thousands of catalytic converters in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique. “Last year, we had an increase in the number of incidents reported”says Lieutenant-Colonel David Bolze, boss of the Rezé company.
Coins full of precious metals whose prices are soaring
The cars targeted are petrol vehicles, models between 1998 and 2012, models whose catalytic converter is more easily accessible. Pieces sought after because they contain precious metals (rhodium, palladium, platinum, etc.), whose prices are soaring. “There is, for example, rhodium which today is worth 775,000 euros per kilo”, says an investigator from the group of damage to property at the company of Rezé. That’s eight times the price of gold.
If the investigation took several months, it was because the gendarmes did not want not just arrest those who stole the coins in Loire-Atlantique, in particular. Once one of the thieves was identified, they set about tracing his contacts to also get hold of those who harbored the coins, in other words who sold the stolen parts. In this case, the parts took the direction of Poland, under cover of a transport company. “At a rate of between 700 to 800 jars every fortnight”specifies the public prosecutor of Nantes, Renaud Gaudeul.
Arrests in early February
At the beginning of February, nearly 200 gendarmes are mobilized for arrests in two waves: on February 2, the fences in the Rennes sector. Five Poles, two women and three men, aged between 32 and 40, unknown to the police, gendarmerie or justice. Three ensured the collection of pots everywhere in the Great West and the other two were responsible for transporting the fruit of the flights from Rennes to Poland. Proof of this lucrative market, the equivalent of 210,000 euros were seized from the receivers, including 100,000 euros in cash. 345 stolen pots were also found during these searches.
The next day, the 3rd, in Loire-Atlantique (Bouaye, Saint-Herblain, Rezé, Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, Bouguenais, Le Pellerin), it is the turn of the six thieves to be arrested. Only men, not settled, and them well known to justice. They are between 18 and 50 years old. “They intervened independently, built up stocks and thus fed the traffic”confides the gendarmerie.
Trial on September 1
“It is rare to end a complete sector”, assures the prosecutor. If over the period September-December, the gendarmes took between 42 and 56 complaints, per month, there were only five procedures in February, after this crackdown. All eleven of the accused will be tried on September 1. Fences were placed under judicial supervision this Wednesday, March 9. They will be prosecuted for habitual concealment of goods resulting from thefts with degradation, but also infringements of the right to the environment. They face up to 10 years in prison.