Specialized and organized South American gangs were active during the Olympics

Teams of South American criminals, particularly well-trained and organized, were active during the Paris Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), targeting tourists as a priority, the authorities noted according to a source close to the case. In a note devoted to the actions of these gangs, it is thus highlighted, according to the same source, a significant proportion of arrests of South American nationals, notably from Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, among all those implicated in thefts during the Olympic Games.

Organised into gangs of three to five individuals, with interchangeable members, men or women aged 30 to 50, specialists in pickpocketing, they particularly targeted foreign tourists, mainly on public transport or in hotels.

Ces «associations» are described in the note, according to the same source, as “highly mobile and linked to international criminal organisations” and specialized in the “crime of appropriation” (pickpocketing, breaking and entering, trickery, etc.). The methods of operation used by these criminals are detailed there. Their range of action extends over several states in Europe, the Middle East and Canada, adds this source, which describes the accused as “crime tourists”.