17 MEMBERS of a violent Costa Blanca robbery gang have been arrested after following elderly women home to steal their jewellery.
The detainees were aged between 17 and 31 years- with two of them females.
The Guardia Civil launched Operation Kilada to bring down the crew who operated mainly in Altea and adjoining areas such as l’Alfà s del Pi and Benidorm.
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They were also involved in drug trafficking with the Guardia shutting down a narcotics sales point.
Their main activity was to follow elderly women from seafront promenades and terraces back to their apartment blocks, where they would steal their valuables in the main doorway.
The operation has solved 18 robberies with violence and three thefts.
Inquiries started in February after several women reported being approached and assaulted by one or more people who stole necklaces, bracelets, or rings.
An increase in such crimes continued with the perpetrators usually acting in pairs or as a trio.
As the targets began to walk home, the suspects followed them- ensuring to keep a safe distance.
Once a potential victim entered the lobby of a building, the criminals snuck in behind them.
Women were then grabbed by their neck or knocked to the ground before they were robbed.
In one of the assaults, the robber even came inside the home of a victim and struggled with her before stealing a gold necklace.
The Guardia investigation culminated in the search of a property in Altea where 15 grams of cocaine, 21 grams of hashish resin and about 30 canisters of laughing gas was seized.
Officers also recovered several jewels stolen from the victims, cash, four electric scooters and 15 high-end mobile phones, some of them still in their original packaging.
All of the detainees appeared before a Benidorm judge who granted them bail.
Their nationalities have not been disclosed.
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