He has stolen (and trafficked) with hundreds of high -end cars in the almost thirty years he has been in Spain. His ankle boots are millionaires, impossible to quantify. But he slept until recently in a room with a apartment shared in the town of Pueblo Nuevo ( … Linear city). Ivan Georgiev, Bulgaro, will meet on March 13 49 years. He only knows how to steal and does it when the sun falls, hence it is known in organized crime as the ‘midnight express’. In it Illicit Vehicle Traffic Group (TIV) of the National Police They have it cataloged as the most expert in these criminals; He was arrested in the Zubia-Delta operation last fall and ended his bones in prison. But, if he has not already done it, his exit to the street while waiting for the trial is just around the corner, which is what usually happens in these cases.
The express band is the epitome of what is happening between drug traffickers in southern Spain and Bulgarians dedicated to these needs. Those who dedicate themselves to move drugs in areas like Andalusia need SUVs that hold a good onslaught and a persecution for the beaches and other difficult lands. If the preferred ones were the Dacia Sandero, now they seek to work with Toyota Land Cruiser and Rav 4, mainly.
«Bulgarians work in the letter, with large cars that enjoy maneuverability and storage capacity. They are not part of traffickers’ organizations; but they are robbed by commission and right now they make up a very important piece on the narco board, ”Víctor P., Inspector under the command of TIV, who organically depends on the central unit of drugs and organized crime (UDYCO), explains to ABC.
One of these vehicles can cost between 60,000 and 70,000 euros in the legal market. What translates into the payment of about 20,000 or 30,000 by the drug traffickers for each stolen, although, of course, “this are not exact sciences.” Researchers have detected appointments between both parties to these businesses, as has happened with Georgiev and its clan. «They are sent to the Guadalquivir and Huelva area. They do not steal them themselves, because the ease that the Bulgarians have is more profitable, ”they indicate police sources.
The TIV group of the National Police has been working since 1976 against these mafias. The same year of birth of the midnight express, which is a mere chance, as is logical. They are not just vehicle theft researchers. Here what is pursued is illicit traffic, great operations that, in the case of the Community of Madrid, were 14 in 2024, which resulted in 180 detainees. In addition, 110 vehicles were recovered. Of the 40,000 per year stolen in Spain, approximately four out of ten are in our region, ahead of the province of Barcelona. In this, Madrid is also at the head. They are not just cars, but also motorcycles, “that have very easy exit in the black market, for the type of pieces they use,” says the TIV inspector.
The midnight express and two cronies, captured during a robbery
ABC
Cases like Georgiev are scandalous. He lived in a room, wall with a wall, with his right hand, on a small floor of the luxurious street of Vicente Espinel; A small route that goes to Alcalá and only known in any case for being the cradle of Alejandro Sanz. That floor is leased by a compatriot who, according to the sources consulted, did not know what they are dedicated to. They didn’t just leave the house. Just a visit to the nearest cafeteria to go to breakfast, some lunch and, after preparing the day, walk through the most expensive neighborhoods, already at night, to look for goals. They have preference for Salamanca and Aravaca. “When they see the cars that interest them, they are placed a geolocator in the bass or the bumper,” the researchers explain. What in police slang is called to put a ‘tail’.
Once they have them in the wallet, they go out to steal them. Even if they are in garages, which is in most cases, they are true experts in manipulating devices to open the ‘parkings’, capturing the frequency of the remote control of a neighbor.
These criminals are between 30 and 50 years old, they do not get up early, they only commit crimes, even if they spend an average of between 150 and 200 euros a day, and not precisely in Russian literature: they frequent alternate premises, as they are very macho organizations. Between spree and spout, they are capable of becoming three robberies in one night.
Extremely elusive
They work in groups of three, as is the case of the midnight express, and normally let the vehicles cool and change the tuitions, although, if the commission is in a hurry, that same morning or hours later they transfer them to the south of The Peninsula. This Bulgarian capo has a multitude of background and has been in prison several times, for belonging to criminal organization, falsification of documents and, of course, vehicle subtraction. He has a family, woman and son, but reside more opulence on the Costa del Sol.
«Monitoring is very complicated. Once, with a device of eight police vehicles, we do not last more than two streets, it was lost, although it is not dangerous, ”acknowledges the inspector. It does not make use of violence because it knows that our Criminal Code is especially soft with theft with force and the subtractions of vehicles, so better not to risk. Only in the last operation against him have been arralled with 40 cars and SUVs. When they practice the patrimonial research, they will find that they have bleached the money especially in brick, in their country of origin. In another operation last year, baptized Carwar, some of Ukraine recovered and only 50 people arrested.
In Canillas, TIV agents are a dozen. The most veteran, the officer Adolfo, has been there for fifteen years. It is a walking Bible of this type of crime, their colleagues emphasize: “It is a reference for all of us.” The work they do is very complex, with telephone interventions, numerous trips abroad, channeling of information with police, judges and prosecutors from other countries, especially with the headquarters of Interpol, in Lyon (France). His international recognition, after almost half a century of life, is indisputable: Spaniards are considered worldwide experts in vehicle identification. As in everything, experience is a degree.
From Madrid to Gambia
Not all this underworld revolves around the Bulgarians. Moroccan clans are currently dedicated to cars theft to send them to Algeria, Morocco, Gambia or Mauritania in maritime containers. They do it whole, without makeup (change them, for example, documentation and plates) or wake them up. They have love for those who are of French construction, mid -range (about 30,000 euros), because they are the easiest to give them out there, experts detail, from Renault to Peugeot.
A stolen and woke up car in a clandestine workshop
ABC
In Madrid, these Maghreb networks move a lot in the southern zone, they drive them to Algeciras or Alicante, and from those ports they go out to their destinations. Although nobody wants to recognize it, in those border posts, there are more than one and two employees bribed by illegal networks. Moroccan criminals live more integrated in districts such as Moratalaz and municipalities in southern Madrid, even have some hospitality and discos businesses for compatriots. But the 10,000 or 14,000 euros that are carried for each stolen unit are not bad as extra. An example is Operation Formentor, in which 40 cars moved to Africa.
The third group is made up of people from the interior of the black continent who, taking advantage of the fact that in our country they go unnoticed by each other by their features, achieve the documentation of compatriots and acquire cars for the ‘Renting’ system. In exchange for a small percentage, these cronies give their identity cards. They create a company and, through it, rent those cars; While the contract lasts, they do not pay the quotas and, when the owners want to realize, they are already in the countries of origin of the mafias, which also commit the letter. “This type of case is increasing,” mean the TIV group to this newspaper.
Of course, the Spaniards are not far behind. At present, in Madrid there is a very powerful national group. They buy sinister vehicles in scrapping outside Spain, especially Germany. What interests them is not the chassis or the vehicle itself, but its documentation. They use it for a car of the same model in our country that just steal from the street. And so they make them go through an importation. These criminals, settled between Getafe and Fuenlabrada, previously earned a living as butroneros, experts in robberies strongly in establishments and bursting safes.
The success of the Illicit Traffic Group of vehicles of the UDYCO Central is based on constancy, there are no shortcuts. Coordination with other national police templates is fundamental. «We get in touch with the provincial groups when we ask for collaboration. It happens to us, for example, that we know that a car is going to leave Spain through some port or border, and we need those colleagues to help us, ”exemplifies Inspector Víctor P.
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