This was a whole team effort where not only were investigators and field officers utilised specialist techniques and surveillance methods utilised but also included their lab staff who recovered VINs for them. In addition to recovering several hundred vehicles which were returned to insurance companies they had a truly international aspect to their operation where they dismantled more than 30 OCG operating in Greece, Albania, the Balkans, and Central Europe. One part of the operation targeted an OCG operating Shell companies stealing Japanese vehicles (Toyota/Nissan) that were either later cloned and sold on or stripped for parts. In that instance alone they made 8 arrests including the head of the OCG.
Adding to our decision was the fact that they left no stones unturned and targeted not just the whole vehicles but seized engines, gear boxes, engine control units and many other car parts and worked tirelessly liaising with manufacturers to identify the vehicles these parts originated from to get further charges/convictions. 

There is no doubt that this was an exceptional performance in the field of Vehicle Theft Investigation resulting in criminal prosecution and/or identification leading to recovery of stolen motor vehicles.  
They provided multiple examples of such performance where their operation successfully ID stolen vehicles and suspects which resulted in a significant positive impact, including convictions which have led to a reduction in vehicle crime numbers, the recovery of stolen vehicles.

“VI Unit is based in Athens Greece. During last year they had hundreds of success cases regarding vehicle criminality. 

They managed to dismantle more than 30 organized criminal groups who were active in Greece, Albania, the Balkans and in the central Europe. 

They have identified, in 2022, more than 230 manipulated cars and these cars were given to insurance companies, mostly in Greece”.

“For a period of nine months, we conducted a secret investigation in order to identify and dismantle an organized criminal group engaged in car thefts, mostly TOYOTA models YARIS HYBRID, COROLLA and RAV-4 but also NISSAN model QASHQAI, which are very popular in our country.

The perpetrators owned cell companies and after the cars were stolen, either they were sold as used cars with falsified documents and forged VIN numbers  or they were dismantled and sold as car parts.

Twenty-one investigators and field officers were involved in this case and us a result we made 8 arrests including the head of the organization.

In order to uncover their role, we used every available mean such us monitoring their movements and wiretapping their conversations.

We confiscated eighty-eight car engines, thirty-six gear boxes, twenty-nine engine control units and many other car parts (doors, bumpers etc). In order to find out their origin, we sent their serial numbers to the manufactures, and they informed us in which car there were built in originally.

Furthermore, we seized special technological equipment, portable devices connected through the OBD port "On Board Diagnostics" to the ecu of the vehicles, of great monetary value. Using this equipment, they were able to steal the cars.

Also our criminal laboratories examined thirty one cars about the authenticity of the VIN number.

Last but not least all the confiscated cars, more than fifty, were cross checked into our data bases and physically examined on the spot.”