The announcement of the disappearance of electric scooters for rent from the streets of Paris on September 1st has been seen as an opportunity by some. Throughout the summer, Lime, one of the operators in the capital, has witnessed a dramatic increase in battery thefts. The company sounded the alarm in July. The gendarmes of the air transport research section (SRGTA) took on the case. Some nights, up to 200 batteries would disappear.
The investigation lasted throughout the summer. Last Thursday, six people were arrested for organized theft and receiving stolen goods. Since July 1st, they spent their evenings stealing Lime’s electric scooter batteries.
The gendarmes gradually traced the thefts back to former or current employees of Lime’s subcontractors. They were familiar with the procedure for easily removing the batteries from these vehicles. In total, nearly 3,000 batteries were stolen, resulting in an immediate financial loss of €2 million, not accounting for lost revenue due to the disruption of operations.
“The investigation conducted by the Research Section of the Paris Gendarmerie, under the direction of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, in conjunction with the Air Transport Research Section, led to the identification of two main organizers and four habitual thieves involved in a theft organization, usually followed by a rapid disposal of the proceeds of the offense to Eastern Europe,” details the Paris public prosecutor’s office. On site, the batteries were either dismantled for their metals or reconditioned for reuse.
