Mossos d’Esquadra of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the South Metropolitan Police Region and the Civil Guard of Asturias, have dismantled a criminal organization that was dedicated to robbery at home and have arrested seven men and two women as alleged perpetrators of 22 crimes of burglary at home, thirteen in Catalonia and ten in Asturias, for belonging to a criminal group, receiving and falsifying documents.
The investigation began at the beginning of January when agents from the Investigation Unit of the Sant Boi de Llobregat police station learned of a robbery at a home in Santa Coloma de Cervelló. A few weeks later, investigators learned of a second robbery, this time attempted, in the same municipality.
Subsequently, in the months of January and February of this year, investigators from the Sant Boi de Llobregat police station and the Territorial Investigation Unit of the South Metropolitan Police Region formalized a joint investigation team (ECI), which allowed them to have knowledge of eleven more robberies with force in the municipalities of Molins de Rei, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Sant Vicenç dels Horts and Santa Coloma de Cervelló. The thieves had managed to gain access to the interior of the homes and had taken valuable items such as jewelry, electronic devices and money, among others. In some cases, the victims surprised the thieves, who ran from the scene.
Thanks to the investigation efforts and the evidence collected, the agents verified that all these criminal acts could be related and that the perpetrators could be the same in all cases.
The investigations and the images recorded by the security cameras allowed the criminal acts to be attributed to a group of three people, two men and a woman. Their modus operandi was always the same: they forced one of the windows of the home with a screwdriver or similar object with the intention of accessing its interior and committing the robbery, always in the same time zone, when the sun went down. However, the perpetrators mainly used public transportation to travel to the municipalities where they committed the robberies. In fact, its radius of action was always close to train and railway stations.
The investigators were able to prove, thanks to the images recorded by the security cameras, that the thieves, upon returning to the train or railway station, were selecting and throwing along the way the jewelry that they considered to have no value, as well as the boxes that contained them.
It is worth mentioning that sometimes they also used a private vehicle or a rental vehicle when traveling. In fact, one of those investigated was also in charge of facilitating this logistical support as well as the rental and transportation by vehicle. However, this person also put a stolen license plate on the vehicle when the criminal acts were committed in order to hinder the investigation work.
The investigators were able to prove that the three investigated formed a criminal group, very active and stable over time, which in a coordinated manner carried out various specific functions in order to commit robberies with force in homes. Furthermore, the woman, who also participated in the robberies, was the recipient of the stolen objects and kept them at her home.
Finally, on March 5 and 6, investigators detained the three people under investigation. On March 6, under the supervision of the Investigative Court number 1 of Sant Boi de Llobregat, they carried out an entry and search in one of the homes of the detained persons, where they hid the stolen objects, in Hospitalet de Llobregat. As part of the search, the agents recovered watches and jewelry stolen from some of the reported incidents, among other evidence, such as the clothing used in the robberies. It is worth mentioning that the arrested woman was wearing one of the rings stolen in the robberies. The three arrested were brought to justice.
Likewise, the researchers determined that although its scope of action had been detected in Catalonia, its roaming in the rest of Spain was not ruled out.
In a second phase, investigators found out that the detainees were linked to six other people who were in a rural house in the municipality of Tresgrandas de Llanas (Asturias). The agents were able to prove that these people were part of the same criminal group under investigation, which sometimes separated to optimize and expand their criminal actions. These people intended to commit more robberies in houses in nearby towns. Hence, a joint investigation team was formalized with the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Asturias.
Thanks to the investigation efforts, the agents managed to locate a hiding place in the wooded areas near the rural house where they were staying and kept the tools used to commit the robberies.
Finally, thanks to the joint work of the two police forces, and under the supervision of the Investigative Court acting as guard of Sant Boi de Llobregat, on March 9, the agents carried out an entry and search in the rural house where the six people investigated were housed.
As part of the search, investigators located jewelry that will have to be analyzed and its origin determined, household appliances from some of the robberies reported in Asturias, as well as tools that could be used in forceful robberies such as gloves, mallets, levers and flashlights. Finally, they arrested the five men and the woman under investigation who were part of the same criminal group as alleged perpetrators of ten robberies in homes in Asturias. Those arrested were brought to justice.
