Following investigations into a criminal group suspected of laundering at least EUR 306 million of illicit profits from drug trafficking and other crimes, 13 people have been arrested in France and Romania. Investigations coordinated through a joint investigation team at Eurojust revealed that the group had been operating in France and Romania between 2018 and 2024.
Consisting of dozens of members operating from Romania and France, the criminal group is suspected of having laundered illicit profits from crimes such as drug trafficking. They set up a sophisticated international operation involving multiple legal entities in France, which they took over and used to channel large sums of money into their own bank accounts. The group also created a financial circuit involving the issuance of false invoices for services between legal entities, thereby reducing those companies’ taxable income.
In Romania, the group invested part of its illicit profits in real estate across the country. To hide their identities, they made investments in the names of others in their entourage.
To enable the French and Romanian authorities to exchange evidence on the group’s activities and take joint action, Eurojust set up and funded a joint investigation team.
The investigation culminated in a joint action day on 3 February, coordinated from Eurojust’s premises in The Hague. The coordinated operation led to the arrest of 13 suspects and the seizure of over EUR 400 000. During 24 house searches in France and Romania, the authorities seized jewellery, luxury watches and mobile phones.
The actions were carried out by the following authorities:
- France: Investigative Judges – Financial Division. Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris – PNACO (National Prosecutor’s Office Against Organised Crime) BRIF (Financial Investigation Unit – Prefecture de Police)
- Romania: Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice; Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism; Cluj Territorial Service and Central Structure; Directorate for Combating Organised Crime; Maramures Organized Crime Service; Bistrita-Nasaud Organized Crime Service; Cluj Mobile Gendarmerie Group; Special Intervention Brigade of the Gendarmerie
