In a joint police operation, 14 people have been arrested and another 2 being investigated, as suspects in a major crime gang that targeted rural properties across Alicante and Albacete.
Those arrested are between 25 and 55 years old, of Moroccan nationality, and are charged with numerous robberies from homes and farms, criminal damage, theft of vehicles, falsification of documents, firearms offences, serious disobedience and being part of a criminal organisation.
The investigation began in August, when officers became aware of an increase in complaints of robberies from within homes, which were mainly country dwellings, across Alicante and Albacete., with two common denominators, namely the time in which the burglaries were carried out, and the type of objects stolen.
A joint investigation was carried out by agents belonging to the Guardia Civil of Santa Pola and Pilar de la Horadada, the Almoradí Judicial Police Team, and the Judicial Police of Albacete, along with the National Police of Elche.
The investigation revealed that the thieves hid their booty between reeds in a hidden area between the fields of Callosa de Segura and Granja de Rocamora. They used the vehicles they stole for their own criminal activity. During one of the surveillance operations, the agents discovered in the Murcian town of Lorca one of the members of the group driving one of the vehicles that had been stolen. The investigators were able to compile a detailed profile of the thieves, assisted by CCTV footage from some of the homes they had targeted.
After the first arrests, a total of eight raids were carried out, three in Callosa de Segura, two in Granja de Rocamora, one in Benferri, one in Daya Nueva, and another in Orihuela, where the officers located items identified as stolen, such as mobile phones, jewellery, electronic and technology devices, tools, household items, etc., some of which are already back in the possession of their rightful owners, and 35 stolen vehicles have been recovered.
As a result of this joint investigation, a total of 59 crimes of robbery with force inside homes and country houses have been clarified to date, mainly in the province of Alicante, in Elche and its districts, Santa Pola and Vega Baja. In addition, 27 robbery crimes committed by the detainees in agricultural operations in the province of Albacete located in the municipalities of Casas Ibáñez, Madrigueras, Fuentealamo, Montelagre del Castillo, among others, have been clarified.
