A luxury car heist that ended in a spin-out
Three young men were arrested in October 2025 following an attempted burglary at a Zurich garage. This foiled heist was part of a wider trend, to which fedpol was already responding with operational coordination measures.
Seated on a train speeding from Lausanne towards Zurich on that late October afternoon in 2025, a teenager and several young men were frantically tapping away on their mobile phones. Using a popular instant messaging and video-sharing app, their exchanges were, however, out of the ordinary:
For the past few hours, they had all been receiving instructions from a coordinator via the app. Shortly after a chat channel was created, the coordinator told them, which train departing from Lausanne to board. A little while later, the coordinator provided them with more information about their target for the day, a garage located in the Zurich Oberland:
However, the criminals’ plan to steal luxury cars was thwarted. Three of them – a 14-year-old boy and two men aged 22 and 28 – were arrested shortly after 10pm by the Zurich Cantonal Police. The police had been alerted by an alarm system that a burglary was in progress in the garage.
Recruited via social media
This foiled theft is part of a wider trend that is on the rise. Some 180 burglaries or attempted burglaries in garages were recorded across Switzerland in 2025. The criminal gangs behind these acts are most often based in the suburbs of major French cities.
In Switzerland, perpetrators often have no connection with the organiser of a heist or with one another. They accept their ‘assignments’ via social media or chat channels. This is a form of crime as a service (see box below). It involves numerous risks, as illustrated by the case presented in this article:
Luxury car thefts, just like break-ins at gun shops, seem to be largely the work of the same groups. These acts should be considered a form of organised crime.
Task forces in place
The incidents reported to date in Switzerland, such as the case described in this article, fall under the jurisdiction of the cantons. The cantonal police forces are responsible for managing operations and all other investigative measures. However, fedpol investigators provide support and are working tirelessly to combat these crimes. Task forces were therefore set up during 2025 within fedpol and the cantonal police forces to tackle these thefts. Their aim is to facilitate coordination with the cantons, particularly with regard to information sharing, and to provide them with support.
The repressive and preventive measures put in place are ultimately bearing fruit in the medium term. The current decline observed in another area – ATM explosions – confirms this.
Crime as a service: When social media leads to crime
Young people who have only just entered their teens are selling drugs, committing fraud and cybercrime, or even theft and burglary. Across Europe, teenagers are being recruited via social media by criminal groups. This phenomenon, known as ‘crime as a service’, is no exception in Switzerland; in fact, it is being observed with increasing frequency.
This is a worrying trend that calls for a comprehensive approach from society as a whole. In practical terms, this means that prevention must begin in childhood. This is precisely where the National Action Plan against Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (web page available in German, French and Italian) comes into play: It strengthens young people’s digital skills and improves their protection online.
fedpol also supports several projects (available in German, French and Italian) that contribute to the implementation of the Action Plan. These include the Mind-Hack project by the Thurgau Cantonal Police, which creates virtual learning spaces to prevent radicalisation. Another is the academic support provided by the ZHAW School of Management and Law, which is planning several publications addressing the legal aspects of radicalisation and violence among young people.
“One of fedpol’s tasks is to facilitate coordination and provide support to the cantonal police forces based on their needs and available resources. In the case of luxury car thefts, we stepped in at the request of a canton to provide targeted and tailored support through a task force.”
Jan, police station chief
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