Alex Trelinski
A MARRIED Romanian couple have been arrested for a series of ‘love hug’ robberies after plain-clothed Guardia Civil officers helped a potential victim on a Costa Blanca street.
The man and woman, aged 32 and 33, were wanted in connection with similar incidents in the Malaga area.
Guardia officers were carrying out surveillance work in Moraira on May 21 in a busy part of the town, when they spotted a woman approaching a non-Spanish man in the street.
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She offered him a massage service while touching his arm which had a €30,000 watch on it.
He refused her affectionate advances and tried to get away from her by accelerating his walking pace, with officers moving in to arrest the woman.
As she was being questioned and identified, a man was observed in a nearby car attentively watching what was going on.
He aggressively made a prohibited U-turn and was immediately intercepted, with officers discovering he was the woman’s husband.
During an inspection of the vehicle, €1,100 in cash was found hidden among their belongings, as well as various clothes that allowed them to change their appearance quickly, in an attempt to make police identification harder.
The couple and their car were also linked to ‘love hug’ thefts in Mijas, Malaga province.
Both were charged with attempted theft and the female was also hit with an additional theft charge after stealing a €48,000 watch three days earlier in Moraira.
They were brought before a Denia court which decided to release them on bail.
