A ghost fleet of stolen vehicles with forged identities is circulating on Athens roads, authorities say, following the dismantling of a criminal network that generated an estimated €719,000 reselling stolen cars since 2022.
Nine suspects were arrested in February after police raids on homes, warehouses and repair shops across the greater Athens area.
Investigators documented more than 35 vehicle thefts. Some cars were stripped for parts; others were relaunched under falsified chassis numbers and fictitious Italian registration papers, then sold through online listings.
Manufacturers confirmed the deception. BMW identified one recovered vehicle as originally registered in Poland with a gas engine – not the diesel it had been fraudulently sold as. Toyota confirmed another was built for the US market, placing its chassis number outside European databases entirely.
Police say thieves pre-forged registration documents before selecting their next target, then used specialist equipment to bypass onboard diagnostics systems.
