Family Of Thieves Arrested After Offences In Malaga And Alicante

A group that travelled throughout Spain and who preyed on the vulnerable stole up to €60,000 of jewellery.

Criminals from the same family have been arrested after committing robberies throughout Spain including Malaga and Alicante, writes Policia Nacional, Friday, July 21.

Police officers have broken up a criminal group that was constantly on the move and who specialised in committing robberies with violence and the theft of jewellery and watches.

Many offences throughout Spain have been attributed to them, especially in Malaga, Granada, Murcia and Alicante. Members of the group were mostly linked by family ties and acted in pairs, and moved in groups of between six and ten people.

In March, Police launched an investigation after they were alerted to robberies with violence and thefts that were being committed throughout Spain by an itinerant criminal group.

They would rent houses in which they stayed for a few days. This would be their temporary base from which they travelled to tourist areas in nearby towns to look for potential victims.

They travelled in vehicles and once in the place, it was the women of the group who approached vulnerable members of society. The victims were mainly elderly people or people with reduced mobility. The suspects took advantage of distractions, hugs or sexual offers, during which they stole the jewellery they were wearing.

Meanwhile, the men remained waiting inside the vehicles to ensure a quick getaway after the robbery had been committed, or even got involved in those cases where violence was used.

These journeys were often made in their own vehicles, although occasionally they were registered in the name of third parties who acted as a decoy to make police work more difficult. They also had a fleet of vehicles that they were constantly renewing, frequently buying and selling new vehicles, especially when one of them had already been detected by investigators.

Once investigators had located most of the members of the group, who were staying in one of the usual rural houses they rented in the province of Granada, the officers carried out an operation to arrest them.

The night before they travelled to Madrid and Alicante, eight people were arrested and charged with a total of eight thefts and violent robberies, amounting to approximately €60,000. Three house searches were also carried out in the cities of Getafe and Madrid.