Five people have been arrested after a gang allegedly stole a safe packed with more than €100,000 worth of jewellery and gold bars from an 80-year-old man while he was in hospital.
The dramatic theft unfolded in San Juan de Alicante and is now under investigation by the Guardia Civil as part of Operation “Golder.”
According to investigators, the victim’s care worker is believed to have tipped off accomplices after the pensioner was admitted to the Hospital Universitario San Juan de Alicante last December.
Police say the woman used the keys to the man’s home and contacted friends, telling them there was a safe inside the property. Unable to open it, the group allegedly hauled the heavy safe to another house in Alicante, where it was eventually forced open.
Inside were gold bars and jewellery valued at over €100,000.
Part of the haul was later sold in precious-metal shops across Alicante province, while the gold bars are believed to have been circulated on the black market.
The crime only came to light when the elderly man, back from hospital, asked his care worker to retrieve a ring he had left at home. Her suspicious response prompted him to check the wardrobe — only to discover the safe had vanished.
By then the care worker had already fled Spain on a flight to Honduras.
Police arrested five Honduran nationals in February, two of whom were still wearing gold bracelets identified as part of the stolen loot.
All suspects were released pending further judicial proceedings as the investigation continues.
