Six people have been arrested in Madrid and Palencia for their alleged membership of a criminal organization specializing in the theft of solar panels from “very active and highly mobile” photovoltaic installations throughout the national territory that, finally, has been dismantled, according to Civil Guard sources reported this Thursday.
As explained by the armed institute, those now detained used violence and intimidation to carry out the robberies and came to use a firearm to intimidate the security guard of the photovoltaic plant located in the Valladolid town of Ciguñuela, an event that occurred in April which led to the start of the investigation in the so-called ‘Solarpa’ operation.
Apparently, the authors had stolen a truck in an industrial estate in Valladolid with which they later went to the Ciguñuela photovoltaic plant where they threatened the security guard with a firearm, gagged and beat him. According to the same sources, the guard managed to alert the Civil Guard of the robbery before the detainees stole his mobile, a warning that prevented them from stealing the solar panels.
The agents then began the investigation and determined that the criminal organization committed another violent robbery on June 3 at another photovoltaic plant located in Minglanilla (Cuenca). In this robbery, the authors managed to steal a total of 1,015 solar panels, with an estimated value of 300,000 euros.
In addition, the Civil Guard arrested four people on June 9 in the Palencia town of Magaz de Pisuerga when they were preparing to commit another robbery and, later, they arrested two other people for their alleged involvement in receiving the stolen merchandise. These arrests were carried out in the Cañada Real in Madrid, where part of the stolen merchandise was also recovered, specifically 162 solar panels.
According to the Civil Guard, these six arrests have managed to dismantle a “very active and highly mobile” criminal organization that has been responsible for causing “significant economic damage” in terms of stolen material and damage to the affected companies.
In addition, the Civil Guard continues to work to determine the possible involvement of the detainees in other similar events that have occurred in different parts of the national territory. The Valladolid Judicial Police Organic Unit has participated in the investigation and the proceedings have been handed over together with the detainees to Investigating Court Number 3 of Valladolid.
