A stolen car recycling network in Lazio, Campania, and Calabria has been dismantled.

An operation by the Carabinieri of Pomezia dismantled a sophisticated stolen vehicle recycling scheme operating between Lazio, Campania, and Calabria.

At the center of the investigation is a 35-year-old from Boscotrecase, who was jailed on money laundering charges after a raid coordinated by the Rome Prosecutor's Office. Six luxury cars, stolen in the provinces of Naples, Salerno and Benevento, were seized and returned to their rightful owners, dealing a heavy blow to a criminal network that falsified documents and re-registered vehicles to put them back on the road in the capital.

It all started in February 2023, during a routine traffic check in Rome. Officers from the Roma Divino Amore police station stopped an Italian man driving an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, registered in France with apparently legitimate license plates.

But something didn't add up: the car had been stolen in Campania in June 2022, the license plates came from a Fiat 500 stolen in Marseille, and the chassis had been altered with a sticker bearing a false number.

From that moment, i Carabinieri They followed the trail of a well-structured organization that exploited a car rental company to launder stolen vehicles. The investigation, conducted in Lazio, Campania, and Calabria, revealed a proven modus operandi: the vehicles, stolen primarily in Southern Italy, were "cleaned" through a car registration administrator who collaborated with a specialized agency.

 Luxury cars stolen between Naples, Salerno, and Benevento

The latter registered the cars to unsuspecting company owners, thus allowing them to be re-registered and put back on the market as if they were legal. Among the recovered vehicles are three Alfa Romeo Stelvios, a Smart Fortwo, a Fiat Panda, and a Fiat 500 X, all stolen between Naples, Salerno, and Benevento and destined to circulate undisturbed on the streets of Rome. The Rome investigating judge has issued a detention order.

A pre-trial detention order is being issued for the 35-year-old, believed to be a key figure in the money laundering system. "This operation demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement to combating a phenomenon that harms citizens and fuels the black market," said a Carabinieri spokesperson.

Investigations are continuing to identify other potential accomplices and determine whether the criminal network has broader ramifications. This case sheds light on an illicit business that, by exploiting the complexity of vehicle registration procedures, manages to deceive even the most stringent controls.

For the owners of the recovered cars, the seizure represents an unexpected return, but they remain bitter about a phenomenon that continues to affect thousands of motorists in Italy. The Carabinieri have announced that operations to combat vehicle recycling will continue unabated, with the goal of dismantling other similar networks.