POLICE have arrested seven men and two women on the Costa Blanca who ran a car theft and sales scam.
Medium to high range cars were stolen and then resold by using fake ids after making modifications from parts taken from wrecked vehicles bought at auction or from scrapyards.
Cars earmarked to be stolen had GPS trackers placed on them so that they could be taken at a risk-free time in a suitable location.
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The joint Policia Nacional-Guardia Civil operation swooped on six addresses in La Nucia, Altea, Villajoyosa, and L’Alfas del Pi.
Nine stolen vehicles were recovered along with a large number of parts from various scrapped cars in addition to over €71,500 in cash.
Officers took away equipment used to prise open cars in addition manipulated dashboards, fake documents, and two vehicles used to travel to theft locations.
The probe started after reports were received about a dodgy car workshop in La Nucia which bought wrecked cars.
Parts were then used to modify stolen vehicles, which were then sold with documents allied to the scrapped cars.
The Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional described the gang as ‘perfectly structured’ which ‘financially supported the members who stole the cars’.
They were opened by using home-made electronic equipment.
Once the cars were taken, they were ‘hidden’ at home addresses or isolated warehouses with forged number plates placed on them.
The new identities came from copying the identification of the purchased scrapped vehicles or registering a car with fake papers abroad.
The nine detainees- of undisclosed nationalities- have appeared before judges in Benidorm and Villajoyosa.
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