Alex Trelinski
A GANG who stole from cars belonging to foreign tourists at Valencia motorway service areas has been arrested by the Guardia Civil.
Six people have been accused of 54 vehicle burglaries, taking items worth over €127,000 and nearly €27,000 in cash.
The crew used frequency jammers to prevent cars from locking when occupants went to a restaurant or restroom.
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They operated right across service areas between Tarragona province to the Murcia region, but mainly concentrated on the Valencia area due to a high influx of tourist targets.
They used rental vehicles to move around and, to commit the crimes, changing them continuously to avoid being identified .
Once in a service area, they split responsibilities among themselves.
Some were in charge of watching the occupants of the vehicles when they left their cars.
Another of the perpetrators blocked the car key signal which stopped the vehicle from closing while a colleague carried out the robbery.
In some cases, they used distraction techniques with one of them talking to the driver while another crew member stole their belongings.
The Guardia Civil said the gang maintained constant contact with each other via wireless headphones.
After a robbery, they used any stolen bank cards before they were cancelled.
Stolen items were stored in their homes and even in specially rented rooms.
They used people to sell off luxury jewellery, clothing, perfumes, and shoes, as well as computers, tablets, phones, and electronic devices, on the second-hand market.
Four house searches have been carried out in the Valencian towns of Quart de Poblet, Las Cuevas, Utiel, as well as Vall de Uxo in Castellon province.
Numerous suitcases, backpacks, designer clothing, shoes, luxury handbags, and other personal belongings were removed and returned to their return to their rightful owners.
The six detainees have been charged with theft, fraud and belonging to a criminal gang.
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