A joint operation by the Mossos and the Civil Guard has dismantled a traveling group that was dedicated to stealing the proceeds from slot machines in bars in Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia with the arrest of six people after searching four homes.
The detainees, who were found with four bags containing 30 kilos of one-euro coins, are accused of 31 robberies in bars and establishments in small towns, in which they forced entry to take the proceeds from the slot machines, all of it. quickly and specializedly,” according to a statement from the Mossos.
Investigators suspect, however, that the detainees could be the perpetrators of forty robberies, which generated social alarm in rural municipalities.
The detainees, five men and a woman between 26 and 46 years old, were arrested on February 28 in a simultaneous operation accused of the crimes of robbery with force, membership in a criminal group and drug trafficking.
Three of the alleged members of the network, according to the police, were arrested in Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza) when they returned home after a robbery in a bar in the Zaragoza town of Alagón. Two other people were arrested in Valls (Tarragona) and a sixth in the Tarragona capital.
At the time of their arrest, those detained in Aragón were carrying a backpack filled with one euro coins. Before entering their town, they left the tools they used for the robbery hidden in an open field, including crowbars, screwdrivers and gloves.
In the registered addresses, located in the aforementioned towns and in La Ràpita (Tarragona) and Borriol (Castellón), the agents seized four hundred kilos of marijuana buds packaged and prepared for shipment; 12,000 euros in cash; eight mobile phones, tools and the aforementioned four bags with thirty kilos of coins.
The investigation into this case began last December, when twelve robberies were reported in bars in the Montsià region of Tarragona in a short period of time.
The agents also verified that when police pressure increased, the members of the group changed their demarcation to act.
Finally, a group of people directly related to these robberies and with addresses in La Ràpita and Valls were identified.
Through the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), the Mossos learned that the Civil Guard of Castellón was also investigating the same group for similar robberies in bars in that province, for which they used an apartment located in Borriol.
A joint team created by both forces then revealed that the criminals had also begun to operate in the province of Zaragoza.
All the detainees were handed over to the Investigative Court number 1 of Amposta (Tarragona) on February 29.
