Alex Trelinski
A YOUTH GANG has been rounded up by the Guardia Civil in San Javier after committing at least 50 crimes in the area and causing great alarm among residents.
Ten people have been arrested with the two ring-leaders jailed.
Most of the group have extensive criminal records and the Guardia is continuing its operation with more arrests possible.
Charges include robbery with force, theft, fraud, damages, injuries and breach of sentence.
Investigations started earlier in the year after a significant rise in robberies across the Mar Menor area.
The gang targeted vehicles and buildings as well as robbing elderly and vulnerable people.
The robberies were committed at night with the aim of going unnoticed, with the criminals splitting tasks between surveillance and executing a crime.
The Guardia Civil raided a house, a warehouse and various abandoned properties that the thieves used as bases.
Inside the buildings, officers seized cash, mobile phones, bank cards and other personal effects stolen from victims.
In the days leading up to the arrests, one of the ringleaders committed six crimes in a short period, including bag snatches from an elderly person and a disabled resident.
An off-duty police officer witnessed one of those robberies with force and managed to identify the thief and his connection to the youth gang.
