FOUR Belarus men have been arrested and jailed for stealing cars on the Costa Blanca and selling them abroad.
The Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional swooped on the gang at their homes in Benidorm and Lliria plus a rented Finestrat storage room on February 9.
Eight stolen cars have been recovered and returned to their owners.
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The two forces in a joint statement said they managed to bring down a ‘well-structured gang that operated with a high degree of technical and logistical specialization’.
The arrested men all had criminal records for similar crimes.
Inquiries started last October after a car with counterfeit licence plates was found in El Campello.
Investigations led to the uncovering of the organised crime gang, following a ‘notable increase’ of car thefts across Alicante province involving certain high-end brands.
The four Belarusian national apparently ‘pre-selected the vehicles and placed GPS devices to monitor their movements,’ according to the police.
They also used used frequency jammers to access security systems and employed advanced, state-of-the-art electronic opening techniques to get into the cars.
Once stolen, the vehicles were taken to secluded areas where they remained ‘cooled off’ for several weeks to make it harder for police to find them.
New chassis numbers and false number plates were installed along with fake documents issued in European countries during the final modifications at a villa in Lliria.
The gang then contacted drivers from other countries, who took the vehicles by road to France where they sold as if they were totally legal.
The police raids last month yielded ‘abundant materials’ used in the crimes including a machine for making chassis numbers, electronic vehicle opening instruments, plus fake licence plates and vehicle documentation.
Also removed were a key cloning/coding machine, geolocation devices, frequency inhibitors, numerous door opening blades, paint for modifying chassis numbers, a set of ornamental knives and portable vehicle modems.
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