The National Police, in a joint operation with the Mossos d’Esquadra, has carried out an investigation into a group of thieves specialized in the violent theft of luxury watches. Two people have been arrested and four watches, a geolocation beacon, a stun gun, cash and the clothes used at the time of committing the criminal acts have been seized.
The detainees were part of a group based in the outskirts of Madrid that traveled to Catalonia to commit the violent assaults. Later, they returned to the Spanish capital with the booty. Once both police forces verified that they shared information in relation to those investigated, they formed a Joint Investigation Team (ECI) to achieve their arrest.
Investigators have been able to prove that his trip to Barcelona was intended to locate businessmen leaving their establishments, homes or garages with the aim of stealing their watches with a violent approach, strangling them from behind and making it difficult for them to breathe. Once the victim could not defend himself, they took his watch and the rest of his belongings.
The investigation began last May, when a man was assaulted in the car park of his house by two people who stole his watch valued at 160,000 euros and his wallet. The authors acted with the technique known as ‘mataleón’.
The victim parked her vehicle and when she got out she was assaulted by two people, one of whom choked her by the neck and the other ripped off her watch and stole her wallet. Immediately afterwards, the two men fled the place to prevent the victim from recognizing them. The watch is an exclusive and limited edition piece, made to order, which according to the complainant has a value of 160,000 euros.
Months later, those investigated returned to Barcelona to carry out a second robbery with identical characteristics. The victim on this occasion was another businessman who was also robbed inside his car park and was robbed, with the same method, of a watch worth 15,000 euros in addition to 10,000 euros from his business proceeds and his mobile phone.
The joint team made up of agents from both police forces carried out two entries and searches last Tuesday at homes in Parla and Cienpozuelos (Madrid). As a result of the entries, four watches pending examination, eleven mobile phones, a geolocation beacon, a stun gun, cash and the clothing used by the perpetrators at the time of committing both robberies were seized, as well as other evidence that the relate to the facts investigated.
