Forced robberies of jewelry stores, robberies in bank branches, thefts with classic scams such as ‘the sowing’… The National Police has dismantled, with four arrests in Madrid and one in Murcia, a criminal group of Colombian origin that had been specialized in this type of crimes. As reported this Saturday, the investigation has clarified twelve criminal acts in the provinces of Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Cádiz, Málaga, Murcia and Lugo in which nearly 700,000 euros were stolen.
The detainees took strong security measures and, according to the Police, arrived at use costumes, rent vehicles with false documentation and quickly leave the towns where the acts were committed so as not to leave a trace of their identities and make it difficult to locate them.
The criminal group, related to two other people who were already in prison, also committed thefts in bank branches and in the surrounding area, on some occasions using force to access the victims’ vehicles and on other occasions using distraction techniques.
Among the distraction maneuvers, they resorted to the scam of ‘the stain’ (a person approaches the victim and stains his clothes, at which point a second person involved offers to clean it and takes the opportunity to rob him) or the ‘sowing’ scam. , which consists of throwing a bill on the ground to mislead the victim and, when he bends down to pick it up, the theft is carried out.
Since August
The investigation, dubbed Operation Esmeralda, began last August, when agents learned of the existence of a traveling criminal group made up of citizens of South American origin. Later, the agents credited numerous robberies with force to jewelry representatives, both nationally and internationally, which those investigated detected in different fairs and specialized visits to the sector. To do this, they used sophisticated electronic surveillance and monitoring methods.
The National Police indicate that those investigated did not stop looking for new victims throughout Spain, they had turned robberies into their only means of living and they acted in groups of at least four people who stole large amounts of cash or jewelry, the sale of which on the black market it generated very high profits that they sent to Colombia almost in its entirety.
The first criminal act investigated took place in Denia (Alicante) last April, when a large amount of cash was stolen from inside a vehicle.
Diamonds and coins
Shortly after, the agents confirmed the commission of other crimes such as the theft of coins of high historical value in Madrid or the theft of suitcases full of jewelry in Valencia and Burgos.
The perpetrators resorted to disguising themselves with caps, wigs or glasses to hinder their identification. In addition, they acted perfectly coordinated through the use of mobile devices and headphones.
At the end of October, the Police confirmed the group’s involvement in a robbery with force inside the vehicle of a jewelry representative in Murcia, stealing a handgun and jewelry (diamonds and emeralds) valued at more than 340,000 euros.
The agents carried out three searches in Madrid and recovered those diamonds and emeralds and seized cash, numerous false documents and other jewelry that was allegedly stolen, as well as clothing and disguise elements that were used in the robberies.
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