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Date Published: 12/01/2023
ARCHIVED - Alicante police bring down international network of luxury car thieves seizing vehicles stolen in the UK
15 arrests have been made in the Costa Blanca and Madrid and 17 high-end cars seized
An international network that specialised in the illegal trafficking of luxury vehicles has been brought down with the arrest of 15 suspects in Alicante and the recovery of 17 cars stolen from rental and lease companies.
The gang, made up of nationals from several Eastern European countries, also stole cars from private individuals overseas, including the UK, as well as companies, many of which were sold in other European countries, mainly France.
The arrests, the culmination of a two-and-a-half year National Police investigation, were made in Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja, San Vicente, Madrid and Villajoyosa.
The alleged thieves were "highly specialised" in car theft and had modern devices to open the vehicles and clone the keys to start them.
One of those arrested in Alicante is a Latvian national who is subject to a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Latvian authorities for vehicle theft.
As well as selling on the stolen luxury cars, the network also provided the vehicles "for rent" to criminals related to drug trafficking while the motors were still registered to rental/lease companies and private owners, according to investigators from the Illicit Vehicle Trafficking Group of Alicante Provincial Judicial Police Force.
The investigation began in July 2020 when police in Alicante recovered a top-of-the-range vehicle that had been reported stolen a month earlier from a community car park in Villajoyosa. A second car, also pricey, was stolen from the same car park.
Inquiries revealed a "highly specialised" criminal organisation that used "high-tech" to steal the cars and had connections with international vehicle trafficking.
Investigators detected a flow of vehicles that not only placed Spain as the origin, but also as the destination. Basically, vehicles from countries such as France, Estonia, Italy and even the United Kingdom have been located during the investigation.
The stolen vehicles were not chosen at random, they were carefully selected. The organisation used geolocation devices (beacons) to obtain information about the owner's routines and the timing of the theft was perfectly planned.
They then used high tech devices to shut off the alarm signals and once inside, cloned the key.
"It is striking that each make of car requires specific devices for opening and cloning the key, although the organisation stole vehicles of different makes, which is evidence of the high level of technical skill of its members", said the police in a statement.
Before taking the vehicles to dodgy workshops or garages, the vehicles were left on public highways for a few days to "cool down".
They would then be moved to a safe place where identifying elements - number plates, chassis and documentation - were removed and new ones created before the cars were reintroduced back into circulation.
Images: Policia Nacional
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