On the 4th of July the Guardia Civil proceeded, following the required court order, to enter and search a house in Mijas where the agents found numerous items stolen by three individuals, including luggage stolen from the AVE station in Malaga, which is valued at more than 6,000 euros and which has been returned to its rightful owner.

The facts are part of the so-called Hebra operation, which is part of the prevention services of the Safe Tourism Plan of the Secretary of State for Security. With this operation, the Guardia Civil has arrested these three people who, in a perfectly coordinated manner, were allegedly dedicated to the theft of luggage of high economic value in public transport stations.

In spite of the itinerant nature of the persons under investigation, of Egyptian, French and Algerian nationality, the operational activity carried out allowed them to locate the house in Mijas, where they were residing on a temporary basis. 

The investigation began after a complaint was lodged by one of the victims, whose luggage had been stolen from the boot of the vehicle waiting for him in the passenger pick-up area of the María Zambrano high-speed train station in Málaga.

The detainees used misdirection and distraction as their modus operandi to steal their victims' luggage, following a well-rehearsed script: they chose their targets in the arrivals area according to the value of the luggage they were carrying. 

Modus operandi

Once they had chosen their target, one of these individuals would keep watch to ensure that there was no police surveillance; another would entertain his victims by making them believe that the vehicle they had boarded had run over their pet; and the third would take the opportunity to open the boot, take the luggage and flee through the crowd.

Thanks to a rapid investigation, the agents were able to identify these three individuals, who had numerous previous convictions for similar acts carried out in several Spanish provinces with a large number of tourists, and to locate the house from which they were operating.

The detainees have already been brought before the courts for allegedly committing the offences of aggravated theft and membership of a criminal organisation. The investigation continues in order to locate the other owners of the stolen property found in the house.

Share it with this link: https://mijasint.com/?a=28100