Nine arrested as officers recover stolen vehicles, fake documents, car parts and more than €71,500 in cash during raids across La Nucía, Alfaz del Pi, Altea and Villajoyosa.
An international car theft gang accused of stealing mid-to-high-end vehicles and disguising them with fake identities has been dismantled in a major joint operation by the Guardia Civil and National Police.
The operation, named Poncho-Transformer-Wheels25, led to the arrest of nine people — seven men and two women aged between 29 and 52 — and six property searches across the Alicante province towns of La Nucía, Alfaz del Pi, Altea and Villajoyosa.
Officers seized a large quantity of parts from stolen and dismantled vehicles, false documents, specialist equipment used to open and steal cars, devices for reading and modifying vehicle control units, two vehicles allegedly used in the thefts, and more than €71,500 in cash.
Police also recovered nine stolen mid-to-high-range vehicles.
Cars stolen, stripped and given new identities
The investigation began after police received information about a workshop in La Nucía, where vehicles written off after accidents were allegedly being bought at auctions or from scrapyards.
According to investigators, the gang used those crashed vehicles — together with their original documentation — to give stolen cars a legal appearance.
The stolen vehicles were allegedly repaired using parts from written-off cars before being sold back into the legal market with apparently valid paperwork.
Police say the organisation used intermediary companies to legalise stolen vehicles through the purchase of accident-damaged cars.
Sophisticated criminal set-up
Investigators believe the group was highly organised and had a clear structure.
One branch allegedly handled the financial side of the operation, supporting members of the criminal network. Others were responsible for stealing the vehicles, while intermediary companies were allegedly used to reintroduce the cars into the legal market.
The gang is accused of using documentation from written-off vehicles to give stolen cars a new identity.
Trackers, fake plates and homemade devices
According to police, the gang targeted vehicles that were in high demand on the European market.
Before stealing them, members allegedly selected models whose opening and ignition systems were compatible with the technical equipment they had available.
Once a target had been chosen, tracking devices were reportedly installed so the gang could monitor the vehicle and decide the best time and place to steal it.
The cars were then allegedly opened using homemade electronic systems.
After being stolen, the vehicles were moved to hidden homes or remote industrial units, where false number plates were fitted before the cars were worked on and given new identities.
Two ways to hide stolen cars
Police say the gang used two main methods to disguise the origin of the stolen vehicles.
In some cases, they allegedly used the genuine documents of written-off cars to give stolen vehicles a real identity.
In other cases, they allegedly used a cloning system, creating false documents for foreign vehicles before registering the stolen cars in another country. Once registered, the vehicles could obtain new real paperwork based on previously falsified documents.
Raids across Alicante province
During the operational phase, police arrested three people in Alfaz del Pi, two in La Nucía, two in Villajoyosa and two in Altea.
Six searches were carried out: two in La Nucía, two in Alfaz del Pi, one in Altea and one in Villajoyosa.
The raids led to the recovery of nine stolen vehicles, a large quantity of dismantled car parts, false identity documents, car theft tools and equipment used to manipulate vehicle electronics.
The detainees were brought before the duty investigating courts in Benidorm and Villajoyosa.
Police say the investigation remains open, and further arrests, victims and stolen vehicles have not been ruled out.
