Five people were placed in pre-trial detention for the theft of dozens of vehicles in the Mulhouse-Sausheim and Sochaux-Montbéliard factories, with the complicity of employees.
It was a ride that had been going on for several years. Five people were placed in pre-trial detention for stealing dozens of cars from the Stellantis factories (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, etc.) in Mulhouse-Sausheim and Sochaux-Montbéliard, the Mulhouse prosecutor’s office said on Monday. The mastermind of the operation, a 62-year-old man, was already indicted in a first case of car theft at the factory dating back to 2018.
The thieves, who had accomplices within the factories, used a site employee badge to take one or two vehicles out, via a park and ride facility, the prosecution said. “It was almost invisible as there were so many vehicles in transit and waiting on the site.” Between the start of 2022 and July 2024, the date of the last identified thefts, more than 75 vehicles were stolen, Peugeot 3008, 208 and 308.
Nine people were arrested on September 17, five of whom, most of them with significant criminal records, were indicted following their custody for “organized gang thefts” et “criminal association”. They face up to ten years in prison for the alleged offenses.
Significant seizures were made during the searches: luxury cars and a cash sum of 50,000 euros from one of them.
According to the prosecution, the investigators dealt with experienced people who specialized in car theft. As the vehicles have not been sold, their serial numbers are not known, making it all the more difficult to trace them, explained the prosecution. Most were resold in North Africa, mainly in Algeria.
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