Home » News » Ile-de-France: clandestine foundries, the new tactic of gold receivers

Ile-de-France: clandestine foundries, the new tactic of gold receivers


It is at 1064 degrees that this yellow metal which excites all desires becomes liquid, before freezing in the form of an ingot. Recomposed in this way, it is impossible to know the origin of the gold which gave their value to the rings, bracelets or stolen necklaces which were melted down.

In two months, the police dismantled two clandestine foundries located in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis, specializing in the concealment of jewelry. The processing of stolen gold was once a specialty of the criminalized fringe of Travelers. This is no longer necessarily the case. “In these two cases, it is members of the Indian or Sri Lankan community with knowledge of jewelry or metal smelting who are involved in international channels of concealment”, explains a source close to the investigation. If the process is not new, this method had not yet been observed by the police in the capital.

On February 18, the public security police carried out a check on a photographer in the 10th arrondissement of the capital. And in the back room of this laboratory, they discover jewelry, watches, ingots, gold coins, diamonds, as well as 125,000 euros in cash. They also get their hands on all the tools necessary to melt this precious loot which will become untraceable. “All these goods come from snatching or burglaries,” said a source close to the case. The manager, a 55-year-old Tamil, was taken into custody in the premises of the financial research and investigation brigade (BRIF). During the hearings, he maintains that he rented this room to a person whose name he does not know.

Arrested at the airport with an ingot worth over 53,000 euros

This is another case led by investigators from the border police (PAF) of Roissy which allows to better understand the purpose of this new sector to sell stolen jewelry and watches. The last suspect in this case was arrested at the end of February on his return from India, before being referred to Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis), where he will be tried in June by the criminal court in company four other accomplices, aged 39 to 48 for concealment of organized gang robbery.

It was last July that their merry-go-round was spotted by investigators in the area reserved for travelers. An employee of the airport area holding a badge and “a mule”, that is to say a man responsible for transporting the gold to Dubai, are surprised by the police while they are in full exchange . The first brought a one kilo ingot worth more than 53,000 euros to the second who was to embark for the Emirates.

The following investigations allow investigators to discover that the gold was melted in two clandestine workshops. The first of these foundries was in a shop in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. “The sponsor was in charge of exports and the store manager was in charge of connecting clients with the goldsmith. “

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In addition, a second gold smelter worked in a clandestine workshop, installed in a garage in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis) in more precarious conditions. The first four receivers will be surprised last January by the police who got their hands on jewelry, silverware and 72,000 euros in cash. “The stolen jewelry was passed through a rolling mill to crush them,” explains a source close to the case. These small pieces were melted in carbon crucibles before being cast into poor quality ingots. “

“Gold in this form is easier to conceal when exported”

For the Union of Jewelers, this practice of international concealment is new. These gold bars have nothing to do with those coming out of official gold foundries. “They would not be accepted in a trade in France because the rules in force are very strict and each ingot produced must be identifiable, underlines Jacques Morel, former general of the gendarmerie and security referent within the French Union of jewelry. and stones. The only point of this transformation is that gold in this form is easier to conceal when it is exported. For example, criminals can paint it to look like lead. The hypothesis that holds the cord is that of a transit through Dubai to India where it would be bought by jewelers at unbeatable prices.

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