The Tangwall Campagin. What is “traveling crime”?
General de Tarlé. Itinerant delinquency brings together organized criminal groups – French or international – who strike at several points in a territory, often far from their base to complicate their apprehension. These structures are often multi-criminal: burglaries, freight theft, extortion or money laundering, tobacco smuggling. Some Romanian or Dutch criminal groups have been able to attack ATMs with explosives. We arrested them.
What do burglaries represent in your mission?
This is an important part, especially when Russian-speaking criminal organizations sponsor them. These organizations – born in Stalin’s gulags – were established in Europe after the fall of the Soviet bloc and their organization is pyramidal: a leader, lieutenants, enforcers and strict discipline. Each nationality represented has its specificities: Moldovans in tobacco smuggling, theft or extortion in the construction sector; Armenians in receiving stolen goods and tobacco smuggling; of Georgians in burglaries, shoplifting or tobacco smuggling. There are also Albanians involved in burglaries, cargo theft, extortion, pimping and drug trafficking. Behind a shoplifting or burglary, a very hierarchical international organization can therefore be hidden.
Do they have an identifiable modus operandi?
Criminals generally target what is easily transportable and convertible into cash. The loot can be sold locally, sent by post or exported to neighboring countries such as Belgium. Some, Serbo-Croats for example, arrive in France for a few weeks, commit a series of burglaries, then leave. They sometimes rely on young women, minors, supervised remotely by older women and supervised by men. In rural areas, they force windows or locks. In urban areas, they can follow elderly people to steal a bag and use the keys. The pressure on the performers is strong: when they do not bring in enough, violence can be used.
Are all burglaries linked to these organized structures?
No, there are many local burglaries committed by city groups or individual offenders. But many violations, even minor ones, can be the work of coordinated teams.
“As soon as they know they have been spotted by the police, those responsible organize the exfiltration of the little hands”
Do these teams move a lot from one city to another?
Once established in a territory, they act on several departments. As soon as they know they have been spotted by the police, those responsible organize the exfiltration of the little hands to another country or another area.
How long has this phenomenon existed? Do you see any developments?
These groups have been established in France for around fifteen years. Today we observe increased cooperation between them. Everyone brings their expertise: burglary, receiving stolen goods, money laundering, smuggling, etc. With one constant objective: to generate money. Many have been incarcerated, but some still lead very active teams in France from abroad. These are groups now structured on an international scale, extremely mobile and adaptable, which makes their dismantling particularly difficult.
