Border Police Crack Down on Thriving Stolen Car Trade to Morocco

"The work of the PAF is focused on cross-border passenger control," explains Divisional Commissioner Olivier Harguindeguy, its director, to Midi Libre. "But five or six times a year, we carry out coordinated operations with Argos or the Sète police station on stolen vehicles. We are close to Spain, in connection with the A9 where the smugglers circulate." He states that this year, the PAF has prioritized flows with Algeria (new connections in 2025, note), but what "we do is mainly Morocco to Nador and Tanger. Morocco has become the hub for stolen cars in Europe."

It emerges from the explanations of the PAF director that the stolen car market is thriving. "The Maghreb is a rapidly growing market, this traffic represents 5% of the Moroccan automotive market, depending on the unavailability of certain models on site," he estimates. In 2023, his elements managed to seize a dozen mid-range and high-end vehicles destined for Dubai. "We have Moroccan-Spanish networks operating from France and Europe," adds the commissioner.

The officer continues: "With customers who legalize the cars before entering Morocco, there are necessarily intermediaries in France, who manufacture for example false registration certificates. This is why we also have document fraud analysts during targeted operations." Argos, the name of this Economic Interest Grouping (GIE) founded in 1984 and composed of the largest French insurers, responsible for identifying and recovering stolen vehicles, plays an important role.

"We intervene for example every summer at the border between Spain and Morocco on road checks on the A9," says Benoît Leclerc, its director. He adds: "We have about twenty technicians in the field who can be called upon during searches or by a garage to identify vehicles. Argos also experts construction equipment, boats, their engines, etc."