MARBELLA has long been home to a wide and eclectic community of people from all over the world, drawn by its climate, lifestyle and international character.
But alongside the entrepreneurs, high-flying executives and luxury seekers lies another class of marbellini that is thriving more than ever – the fraudsters, the drug traffickers and the robbers.
The resort’s luxury villas, beach clubs and supercar hangouts have become a place where the unwitting wealthy can rub shoulders at night with the very organised criminals that plan to rob them the next day.
Rarely has this reality been so starkly laid bare than by a brazen broad daylight stick up carried out last autumn.
A Chinese businessman was cruising through one of Marbella’s most exclusive residential areas when he was targeted by a masked gang who, just the night before, had been dining out and living it large in Puerto Banus.
The brazen assault took place on Avenida Buchinger, close to the Mansion Club complex, at around 2.00pm on September 19.
The victim was driving a Skoda Rapid and carrying a backpack containing €20,000 in cash, which belonged to a Chinese businessman friend who had asked him to transport the money from Malaga to Marbella.
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According to investigators, two Peugeot 3008 SUVs suddenly caught up with his vehicle, with one cutting sharply across his path and forcing him to brake.
Fearing he was about to have a gun shoved in his face, the driver reversed and crashed into a tree.
Four hooded men then jumped out of the vehicles, at least one of them armed with a pistol.
Witnesses later told police the attackers identified themselves as ‘police officers’. It was soon evident they were not when the businessman was beaten up while his car was searched.
When they found the backpack, banknotes reportedly spilled onto the ground, in a scene more reminiscent of a heist thriller than a quiet Marbella street.
Within moments, the attackers had fled with the cash.
Security camera footage shows the entire robbery lasted little more than two minutes. The investigation is being handled by the Policia Nacional’s Udyco unit, which specialises in organised crime, and a Marbella investigating court has placed the case under secrecy.
According to local reports, the same gang of thieves had been caught on camera strolling around Puerto Banus and dining out at one of the port’s fancy restaurant the night before the attack.
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Investigators have identified at least two suspects using the CCTV footage – one a fearsome Russian called Arseny Garibyan, who wielded the pistol and was the first one to bash the businessman.
The other is a Spanish man with a long criminal record, including more than 20 previous arrests for offences such as violent robbery, fraud and assault.
What has become clear is that the robbery was not an isolated act of violence, but part of a wider pattern of organised criminal activity operating not just along the Costa del Sol but reaching farther out into Andalucia.
In Malaga province alone, police have dismantled other gangs accused of planting GPS tracking devices on victims’ vehicles and staging fake police interventions.
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In one separate case, a serving Marbella Policia Local officer and a former officer were arrested over a separate alleged kidnap attempt on a Chinese businessman using police-style equipment and firearms.
Tracking devices, known as balizas, have become a key tool in modern organised robbery.
They allow criminals to follow targets discreetly, turning victims into moving opportunities rather than relying on chance encounters.
The Marbella robbery is now linked to a much wider police crackdown known as Operation Solucar Austral, a joint Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional initiative targeting violent robbery gangs across Andalucia.
Investigators believe some criminal groups have a penchant for robbing rich targets in and around Marbella – they plan operations inland before travelling to the Costa del Sol to carry them out.
Wealthy targets and international anonymity make Marbella an attractive hunting ground for them.
Raids have been carried out in Sevilla province, including in areas such as Poligono Sur, Torreblanca and Utrera.
Solucar Austral is focused on gangs that target jewellers and business owners, rather than opportunistic street crime. These are organised crews with access to logistics, transport, surveillance tools and weapons.
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In one linked case in Cadiz province, a jeweller was ambushed after criminals allegedly tracked his movements using a GPS device, before stealing a briefcase of jewellery valued at well over €180,000.
Police later traced the tracking signal to a residential block in Sevilla.
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What emerges is a clear pattern.
Criminal groups circulate openly on the Costa del Sol, socialising in the same restaurants as tourists, walking the same marina promenades and driving the same roads.
Enjoying the same good life that their victims enjoy – before switching into gear and robbing them blind using shockingly violent and brazen assaults.
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