Forceful robberies of representatives of jewelry stores, robberies in bank branches, thefts with classic scams like “sowing”… The National Police have dismantled, with four arrests in Madrid and one in Murcia, a criminal group of Colombian origin that he specialized in this type of crime. As reported this Saturday, the investigation clarified twelve criminal acts in the provinces of Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Cádiz, Málaga, Murcia and Lugo during which almost 700,000 euros were stolen.
The detainees took strict security measures and, according to the police, arrived use costumes, rent vehicles provided with false papers and quickly leave the towns where the acts were committed so as not to leave a trace of their identity and make it difficult to locate them.
The criminal group, linked to two other people already in prison, also committed robberies in and around bank branches, sometimes using force to gain access to victims’ vehicles and on other occasions using distraction techniques .
Among the distraction maneuvers, they resorted to the “stain” scam (a person approaches the victim and stains their clothes, at which point a second person involved offers to clean it and takes the opportunity to steal it) or “sow” it. scam, which consists of throwing a note on the ground to deceive 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 a roving criminal group made up of citizens of South American origin. Officers later attributed many of the thefts to the force jewelry representatives, both nationally and internationally, which the respondents detected in various trade fairs and specialized visits in the sector. To do this, they used sophisticated electronic methods of monitoring and control.
The National Police indicates that those investigated continued to search for new victims throughout Spain, that they made theft their only means of subsistence and that they acted in groups of at least four people who stole large sums of money or jewelry, the sale of which on the black market, this generated very high profits that they sent to Colombia almost in its entirety.
The first criminal act under investigation took place in Denia (Alicante) last April, when a large sum of money was stolen from inside a vehicle.
Diamonds and coins
Shortly after, officers confirmed the commission of other crimes such as theft of pieces of high historical value in Madrid or the theft of suitcases full of jewelry in Valencia and Burgos.
The attackers resorted to disguises with caps, wigs or glasses to prevent their identification. In addition, they acted in a perfectly coordinated manner through the use of mobile devices and headphones.
In late October, police confirmed the group’s involvement in a forceful robbery inside the vehicle of a jewelry representative in Murcia, stealing a handgun and jewelry (diamonds and emeralds) valued at more than 340,000 euros.
Agents carried out three searches in Madrid and recovered these diamonds and emeralds and seized cash, numerous false documents and other allegedly stolen jewelry, as well as clothing and disguise items used in the thefts.
