They will be tried next March, suspected of being at the origin of a network to monitor the “Boers”, the police officers of the passenger transport control unit.
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Three men were arrested and placed under judicial supervision on Friday December 15, suspected of being at the origin of a network set up to monitor the taxi police at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport and prevent illegal taxis for scam tourists, franceinfo learned on Friday December 22 from a source close to the investigation, confirming information from Le Parisien.
According to the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office in Seine-Saint-Denis, the suspects had set up a surveillance system “and real-time sharing of information relating to the activity of police officers from the passenger transport control unit, called ‘Boers'”. From a source close to the investigation, members of the network were placed at several strategic points at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport. The goal: to inform illegal taxi drivers to enable them to scam tourists by making them choose these fake taxis and thus make them pay more for their fare.
Police officers spied on or even threatened
In detail, a lookout was permanently posted in front of the Boers’ premises to monitor their actions and movements, sometimes these lookouts even sent photos of the police officers they were watching and the plates of their unmarked but also personal police cars. . These lookouts even went so far as to carry out real shadowing in the airport. To identify them, they gave them nicknames. Surveillance that went as far as threats: some officials were followed to their homes, others had their car tires punctured.
This information was then delivered to illegal taxi drivers via Whatsapp or Telegram. In this way, drivers could stop their activity and resume it once the field was clear. They were charged between 100 and 150 euros per week for this service. Each focus group included up to 70 clients. The network’s earnings are estimated between 170,000 and 300,000 euros since March 2022.
According to the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office, the three men were placed under judicial supervision for “performing hidden work in an organized gang” and “complicity in picking up a client on a road open to public traffic, without proof of prior reservation by the driver of a road passenger transport vehicle for payment”. Acts committed between March 31, 2022 and December 12, 2023, according to the prosecution, which specifies that the three suspects no longer have the right to go to Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports. They are also not allowed to come into contact with each other until they are judged.
The three suspects are between 21 and 45 years old. From a source close to the investigation, they were arrested in Moissy-Cramayel in Seine-et-Marne, in Roissy-en-France in Val-d’Oise and in Aubervilliers in Seine-Saint-Denis. All three are accused of having spied on the Boers, the passenger transport control unit, to then warn illegal taxi drivers for payment.
Reinforced security for the Paris 2024 Olympics
Questioned by franceinfo, Commissioner Jean-Sébastien Rosadoni, head of the regional road safety division, compares the mode of operation of the network to that “drug trafficking”. “Our objectivehe continues, it’s obviously about mobilizing 100%, on a daily basis and even more so today as the Olympic and Paralympic Games approach.” The commissioner states, “this affair is the result of our new method of operational action (…) Nobody, despite the development of processes, [malgré] innovative ways of operating, cannot escape our action on airport platforms”, specifies the prosecution. The hearing is scheduled for March 22. This is the second case of this type to be tried in Bobigny.