Charleroi: nineteen arrests in investigation into reidentified stolen French cars
Belgian Federal Police reported an operation on 16 October 2026 against an organisation suspected of bringing stolen vehicles to Belgium and changing their identities. Nineteen people were arrested during 23 searches.
Charleroi’s Federal Judicial Police carried out the operation on 13 and 14 October under the Charleroi prosecutor’s direction. Police said the vehicles were mainly stolen in France, then reidentified and prepared for resale in Belgium. A garage and a warehouse served as storage sites.
The operation involved 110 investigators. They searched 23 premises in Courcelles, Charleroi, Mouscron and Menen, including homes, a car wash, night shops and garages. Of the nineteen people arrested, nine were formally placed under investigation; one was detained under an arrest warrant.
The police inventory listed fourteen stolen vehicles with altered identities and seven laptops. Investigators also found dozens of forged vehicle documents and invoices, false vehicle-identification-number labels, car keys and duplicate French number plates.
