Agriculture: “They know how to do it and go quickly”, the scourge of theft of GPS equipment

A few minutes are enough. “They know how to do it and they go quickly,” lament the victim farmers. For several months, but with an acceleration in recent weeks, GPS thefts have been increasing among farmers in the department. Volvestre and Comminges before summer, Lauragais and the north-east of the department in recent weeks. More than fifty thefts have already been noted.

“These are raids,” warns a farmer. “When I was a victim at the end of October, in the same area around Verfeil, five or six colleagues were also targeted.” Thieves take advantage of the night to slip into farms, force tractors or harvesters, dismantle antennas and screens and disappear. “For complete equipment, the latest versions, you need to count between €15,000 and €20,000. There are cheaper models, but with each flight, this constitutes a significant loss, especially if they damage the connections,” note the farmers. who try to organize themselves to counter these unpleasant visits. “We communicate via dedicated groups but it’s not easy,” warns a victim.

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Destinations Eastern countries

The Haute-Garonne gendarmerie, like its neighbors in the Gers, Tarn or Tarn-et-Garonne groups, is carrying out investigations to trace the networks. A complicated, in-depth work which has so far not been successful, despite the mobilization of specialized investigation groups. Investigations carried out in recent months in the west of France but also in Alsace have allowed investigators to identify groups from Eastern countries.

“It seems that the stolen equipment works in Lithuania or Romania,” says a farmer. These destinations were in fact identified in particular by the investigative work carried out by the gendarmerie under the authority of the Versailles Research Section. “There are certainly different teams and sectors from Eastern countries,” says an investigator who works on the phenomenon in the South-West.

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To escape theft, many farmers dismantle their devices in the evening. Operators would like manufacturers to find solutions to block machines remotely in the event of theft. “Technically it must be possible, and not even very complicated but despite the requests, there is no progress”, regret the operators who suspect the equipment manufacturers of not worrying about the phenomenon. “In the event of theft, we renew our equipment. For them, this does not constitute a loss, on the contrary.”

This is not the case for insurers. An operator from Bonrepos-Riquet, a victim of theft twice this year, is worried: “Are they going to continue to reimburse? If it continues at this rate, I'm not sure.”