Europol supported an action led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Berlin (Germany) and Vilnius (Lithuania), which involved around 1 000 police, tax and customs officers carrying out 200 searches in ten countries. The investigation targeted a vast criminal organisation active in smuggling badly damaged cars from the United States (US) into the European Union (EU), and selling them to end customers after superficial repair, while defrauding the payment of customs duties and committing large-scale value-added tax (VAT) fraud.
Apart for the budgetary damage to society, this criminal scheme also posed serious dangers to the safety of European consumers, who unknowingly bought hazardous vehicles for a high price. 10 suspects, including one of the suspected ringleaders of the criminal organisation, a Lithuanian citizen, were arrested. In addition, 18 other suspects were detained for questioning, all Lithuanian citizens. Key suspects of Russian nationality are also under investigation.
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