Police investigation uncovered a huge motorhome theft racket in France

After a long investigation, police discovered a new technique used by criminals to steal motorhomes. The inquiry mobilized 1805 policemen, 128 prosecutors and 91 regional departments in France.

Almost three years and a large number of policemen were needed to untangle the sophisticated method, a new procedure to steal motorhomes; no doubt, this is one the biggest looting of leisure vehicles in Europe.

The investigation lasted almost three years. The inquiry was extremely complicated; however, investigators were able to recover a large number of stolen motorhomes in France. The detailed and long investigation led the agents to the whereabouts -in the last weeks- of 281 motorhomes held by the criminal racket.

"This is just spectacular," said the prosecutor, Renaud Gaudeul, in Coutances district (Normandy -northwest France) in an interview held with Le Figaro correspondent. "We solved the equivalent of an entire year in stolen motorhomes", he asserted.

The 281 motorhomes where mainly located in the Coutances district, where they had stored vehicles for sale, as pre-owned vehicles. A significant profit for the illicit concessionary, estimated in more than 20 million euros to start with.

For information purposes, the prosecutor's statement was also comparing to previous years; police had recorded 290 stolen motorhomes in 2014. Investigators never found such vehicles. Despite the efforts made in the investigation, the authorities could never determine the whereabouts of the motorhome thefts, neither in France nor abroad.

Moreover, it is still unclear the extent of the theft; there are still unknown facts, such as the number of stolen vehicles, for how long they had been operating with this technique and the total amount of the fraud.

In any case, investigations brought to light a criminal racket with a new method, hitherto unknown. The procedure was always the same; the thieves were very well organized, almost perfect, involving a number of people who carefully worked out the complicated process of theft and camouflage.

Please, to understand the extent of the fraud, observe the graphics.