The Mossos dismantled a criminal group specialized in stealing loads from trucks parked in service areas on the AP-7. The police have arrested the four main members of the gang for belonging to a criminal group and for their alleged involvement in eight robberies with force against trucks and the theft of six vans.
The investigation began at the end of August 2022 when the Mossos located a warehouse located in Mataró where large-volume vans that were listed as stolen unloaded stolen products from the trucks on a regular basis.
The police were able to determine that the point was one of the warehouses used by a criminal group that was carrying out robberies in service areas on the AP-7, in the Girona area and north of Barcelona.
The methodology used by the thieves was to go to the service areas at night and commit the robberies while the drivers slept in the cab of the vehicles. Despite this, the police have pointed out that in half of the cases the perpetrators used violence and intimidation towards the driver. They have even indicated that one of the perpetrators would have used a firearm to threaten the victims.
According to the Mossos, when the gang located a piece of merchandise of interest and which it considered to have a high economic value on the black market, it forced the door of the truck trailer and loaded the merchandise into previously stolen vans.
Subsequently, they transported the goods from service areas to one of the clandestine warehouses that the group had in the towns of Mataró (Maresme) and Vilamalla (Alt Empordà).
Based on this information and the various complaints, the agents began an investigation to identify and locate the alleged perpetrators of the events. The Mossos carried out entries and searches in three of the homes of the detainees, in the towns of Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet. They located some of the stolen merchandise and 11,000 euros in cash.
In addition, elements were also involved to commit these types of thefts, as well as electrical devices related to the infrastructure available to the group to commit the thefts of vans of various brands, especially Mecedes Benz.
According to the Mossos, the group would be made up of at least seven people, with a history of crimes against property, and who worked in a very organized way in the patrimonial field of the world of transport in which they are known as “opening acts.”
At the same time, the agents point out that the gang acted selectively and looked for trucks that transported exclusive or valuable products, such as computer equipment, medicines, household appliances, technology or branded clothing, among others.
Investigators have been able to link the perpetrators to four robberies with force, four robberies with violence and intimidation, six crimes of theft of large van-type vehicles and belonging to a criminal group.
During the time that the investigation has lasted, the Mossos calculate that the thieves would have stolen products worth more than 120,000 euros and would have illegally stored and distributed the stolen goods.
The investigating court number 4 of Granollers has ordered the release with charges of four detainees and has imposed, among other preventive measures, the ban on driving on the AP-7 motorway, until the end of the judicial procedure. The investigation is still open and the arrests of the other members of the organization are not ruled out.
