LONDON 

Twenty-eight members of a criminal network, including its leader, were arrested during Europol-assisted operations by French and Spanish authorities, EU's law enforcement agency said Wednesday.

The group, Thieves in Law (Vory V Zakone), was involved in aggravated property crime, racketeering, extortion and money laundering as well as theft and the sale of stolen merchandise, smuggling of tobacco and laundering of criminal assets, Europol said in a statement.

The operations from June 19 - 20 in the French cities of Clermont-Ferrand, Metz, Lyon, Marseille, Paris and Spain's Alcasser, Barcelona, Lloret de Mar and Valencia followed an ongoing investigation by France that was launched in November 2020 to uncover an extensive Armenian criminal organization.

The mostly Armenian and Georgian nationals were arrested at 38 house searches in Spain and France.

Seizures include 16 luxury watches -- one valued at €39,000 ($42,500) -- eight vehicles, six weapons with ammunition, bullet-proof vest, two GPS detection devices, more than €60,000 ($65,500) in cash, mobile phones and electronic devices, as well as Thieves in Law paraphernalia," said Europol.