Men ‘paid to alert illegal taxis about controls at Paris airport’

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of helping taxi scammers evade police checks so as to be able to overcharge tourists at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport.

The men, aged between 21 and 45, were allegedly part of a sophisticated network of informants that would give real-time updates to taxi drivers about the position of transport police units in the airport.

This would allow taxi drivers to avoid checks, and in turn charge tourists fees far above the legal limit for their journey.

The men are also accused of threatening some of these transport police officers, following them home and slashing the tyres of their private vehicles.

They will be tried in court next March, said the public prosecutor of Bobigny.

Transport police officers say the arrests were made following heightened security measures being put in place before the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be held in Paris next summer.

Men allegedly gave live updates on police movements

The men placed themselves in strategic positions around the airport, giving an overview of the movements of patrol officers from the contrôle de transports de personnes unit, nicknamed ‘Boers’, according to the Bobigny public prosecutor.

They were also accused of posting a lookout in front of the officers’ main base at the airport, taking photos of the officers on patrol and the number plates of their unmarked patrol vehicles.

This information would then be sent to taxi drivers to help them avoid checks, and find places to pick up passengers to take to the capital, charging them what they wished.

Legal taxis from Charles de Gaulle airport to Paris have a fixed rate of €53, or €58 if crossing the river Seine to the other side of the city.

However, unregulated or unlicensed taxi drivers often try to scam tourists who may not know this, charging significantly more.

Up to €300,000 in profit

The men allegedly charged taxi drivers between €100 and €150 per week to utilise their service, with up to 70 drivers ‘subscribing’ to receive the updates.

Between March 2022 and December 2023, the men tracking the officers made up to €300,000 from the service.

More people may have been working in conjunction with the men, who were officially charged with “carrying out concealed work in an organised gang" and "complicity in picking up a customer on a road open to public traffic, without justification of prior reservation by the driver of a road passenger transport vehicle for hire or reward.”

The men are no longer allowed to visit Charles de Gaulle airport – nor Paris Orly or Le Bouget – and have been banned from contacting each other until their trial is concluded.

Read more: ‘Flying taxis’ for Paris 2024 Olympics meet council opposition

Road security beefed up before Olympics

The alleged scam was broken up after officers began using new methods in light of the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games, said Jean-Sébastien Rosadoni, head of the local sécurité routière brigade.

“This case is the result of our new method of operational action… no one, despite the development of processes, [and] innovative ways of operating, will be able to escape our action on the airport platforms", he said.

“Our objective is obviously to mobilise 100% on a daily basis, and even more so now that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are approaching,” he added.

Charles de Gaulle is France’s biggest airport, and will likely see increased traffic during the Olympic Games, with opportunistic fraudsters sure to try and exploit tourists visiting the capital.

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