As civilians, with discretion and integration into the tourist hustle and bustle; This is how the members of the Urban Crime Group of the Córdoba Judicial Police to combat thefts in the historic center of the capital, which tend to intensify during periods of greatest influx of visitors. With the months of April and Maythose of autumn Cordobans tend to attract enemies of foreign things, who come from other provinces to steal the wallets of the most ignorant tourists.
He Inspector David Tapias and Officer Alfonso Cosano These are two of these agents who know in depth the “modus operandi” of pickpockets and investigate criminal acts which are not exempt from complexity in many cases.
Some of these criminals are repeat offenders “and have hundreds of complaints behind him», explains Inspector Tapias. It must be taken into account that the Penal Code considers theft to be a minor offense when the value of what has been stolen does not exceed 400 euros.
“Often it is difficult to follow them, because they are a group itinerantof three or four people, who come to town for a specific time. Today they are here and tomorrow, in Seville or in any other province. They act and leave,” explains Inspector Tapias.
In these gangs, the hands that execute are generally women, “the women who come well dressed, handsome; They sneak into groups of tourists and take advantage of any oversight: an open backpack on their back, a bag on a chair in a cafeteria… They are specialists in detecting potential victims and taking action,” explains the Officer Cosano.
Flight of flight
Despite warnings from neighbors and tour guides of an “increasing” phenomenon, police have not detected an exponential increase in thefts. “And we cannot say that there are areas in the Casco which can be classified as particularly dangerous,” they emphasize.
The method most used by criminals is the ‘muleta: “they cover their hands with everything they have, a map of Cordoba, a jacket, a large fan… This is how they hide and prevent those around them from seeing that they are handling a bag or backpack,” explains Cosano.
Solving these cases can be difficult not only because of the itinerant nature of the perpetrators, but also because the victims are usually foreign tourists: “Many do not even file a complaint; They don’t even know if their wallet was stolen or lost, or when it happened,” explains Inspector Tapias.
“Many of these criminals use a map of Cordoba, a large fan or a coat to commit the theft”
In these cases, the stolen items provide the fundamental clues; “They check if they use the stolen credit cardsor cell phones. If they buy in a store and there are cameras, the images can be decisive,” say the two specialists.
Members of this specialized police group maintain close contact with the citizen security unit, as well as with traders and hotels from the Casco area, who are the ones who, most of the time, alert the officers of thefts.
“It is also essential coordination with other police stations, which alert us to thieves that we do not know and that we have identified thanks to this collaboration”, underline the researchers.
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‘The stain’. Criminals approach their victims and defile them, then help them and take advantage of the moment to rob them, an act of false Good Samaritan whose victims are usually elderly people.
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affectionate flight. Technique consisting of “hugging” or surrounding a person with one’s arms, under any pretext or excuse, with the aim of taking advantage of their confusion to steal property. This practice is increasing in Spain in cases of jewelry theft from elderly people.
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‘Sowing’. It involves dropping a note next to the victim while they are working at an ATM and then attracting their attention by telling them that they have dropped money. When the victim leaned down to pick it up, these people took the opportunity to steal the card or bank book and, on certain occasions, they even exchanged the card for another.
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‘The crutch’. It consists of using a jacket, a backpack, a diary or any object that can be used to hide what you want to steal. Once covered with a certain discretion, thieves take advantage of this to commit the theft without the victim’s knowledge.
Even if it is difficult to deal with this type of criminal act, “because there cannot be a police officer on every street”, it is true that the presence of agents (in uniform or in civilian clothes) has an impact deterrent effect: “This prevents them from acting,” conclude the troops.
