Gang targeted homes
Detectives believe the suspects were behind 96 burglaries
Detectives believe the suspects were behind 96 burglaries
RAIDERS targeted holiday homes along the Costa Blanca coast with stolen booty stocking an illicit export trade with Africa, the Guardia Civil revealed this week.
An investigation across the Valencia region resulted in five arrests – including a Ribarroja couple alleged to have masterminded a campaign of crime across neighbouring provinces.
Detectives believe the gang was behind 96 burglaries; many using force if people were found to be in residence in second homes.
The bandits focused on stealing items easy to sell on the black market – or quickly used bank and credit cards before they could be cancelled.
The police operation was launched in June but remains ongoing after the gang was found to have stolen from houses further afield and a complex criminal network was discovered with other ‘ collaborators’ still being investigated.
Charges against those arrested include burglary, theft, fraud – including the dishonest use of stolen bank cards – and money laundering.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said the investigation was triggered after officers in Moraira and Benissa were alerted to an increase in burglaries with a ‘ very similar pattern’.
He said: “They accessed second residences, most of them for holiday use, using force if necessary – carrying out burglaries at night and in the morning so that, in some cases, people were at home.
“Another factor to take into account was the gang focused on stealing objects that could be quickly put on the market; mainly jewellery, watches, cash, bank cards, and electronic items such as tablets, laptops and mobile phones.
“In the case of bank cards, they tried to make use of them in the hours immediately following their theft and in establishments nearby, in order to get the most from them before the victim blocked them.”
Police made a total of six searches of properties, including a property near Valencia city storing ship containers – this resulted in the seizure of a large amount of stolen property scheduled to be sent to Mali. The spokesman said detectives linked the crimes to the Ribarroja family, including a 27yearold man and 26yearold woman that coordinated the enterprise – using a number of collaborators and vehicles.
Crimes were reported in Marina Alta urbanisations in Teulada, Moraira, Calpe, Benitachell, Denia and Jávea. As the police investigation continued, the Valencia province towns of Gandia, Cullera, Sueca, Tavernes and Aldaia were also involved – and the net widened to include Benicàssim, Oropesa and Burriana, in Castellón and even as far as Cuenca.