Three Bosnian nationals suspected of being members of a gang of car thieves operating across Germany were arrested in and around Dortmund (Germany) on Wednesday, Europol said.

The statement added that suspects were arrested in a coordinated strike between the German Police Inspectorate Emsland/Bentheim, the German Dortmund Police the Austrian Criminal Police Office and the Bosnian Ministry of Interior Affairs Canton Sarajevo, under the coordination of Europol.

A total of 4 properties were searched in Dortmund and as a result of the arrests, Europol stated that the criminal gang was thus dismantled successfully.
This criminal network comprised Bosnian nationals who were residing illegally in Germany and committing crimes in the federal states of Lower Saxony, North-Rhine Westphalia and Hesse.

They are suspected of breaking into residential buildings at night in order to steal the keys of expensive vehicles before driving off with them. The total value of the stolen vehicles exceeds € 1.5 million.

This investigation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), together with the support of the EU funded project ‘Countering Serious Crime in the Western Balkans – IPA 2019’ implemented by the Italian, German and Dutch authorities which provided financial support for the organisation of operational meetings and the deployment of German investigators to Austria on the action day.