The Civil Guard has dismantled an active group of criminals for committing more than 70 criminal acts in just over a month and a half. They stole vehicles with which they traveled to steal in shelves and bars in Cantabria, Bizkaia, Burgos and Álava.
Twenty-four people - 11 men and 13 women - have been arrested in Ramales de la Victoria (Cantabria) and in the towns of Sestao, Barakaldo, Basauri and Bilbao (Bizkaia). At the moment they are attributed 24 robberies with force in establishments, the rest being vehicle subtractions and electric fluid defraudation.
This was announced today by the delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego; the colonel head of the Command in Cantabria, Antonio Orantos, and the commander José Manuel Antón Carazo, in a press conference in which the lieutenants Julio Postigo and Pilar Villasante have also participated.
As they have reported, the investigation began at the beginning of February when a significant increase in criminal acts against heritage was detected in Cantabria, mostly concentrated in the eastern area, in localities close to Ramales de la Victoria and the central area of the Autonomous Community.
It was observed that on the same nights when the robbery was committed on a pond or other establishments, cars were also stolen in nearby places or towns. In this way they intended to avoid being identified and detained, going as far as to use different vehicles during the commission of the robbery and flight, making police work difficult.
In this way, for the robbery in a single pond in Cantabria, they removed four vehicles and tried the robbery of another two, and days later, in a new robbery to another pond, they removed another three vehicles and tried it on another three.
After highlighting that this action -called 'Operation TRIRO'- has allowed a group of criminals to be dismantled "very active" in a very short time, Gómez de Diego has highlighted the "professionalism" of the State security forces and bodies and, in this case, has especially thanked the work of the judicial police and the investigation unit of the Civil Guard, who perform a "discreet and rigorous" work as well as "essential".
"The Civil Guard shows once again its professionalism and its coordination. I wish more crimes could be avoided, but for everyone to be clear, that the crime is prosecuted and that the offender is caught," said the delegate.
Up to 50,000 euros in tobacco
The main way of acting was the use of force with different tools on doors and windows of the establishments, to in little more than a minute subtract complete boxes with cartons of tobacco. In the same night they managed to subtract up to 50,000 euros in tobacco.
At the same time as the investigation progressed, other thefts were confirmed in provinces close to Cantabria that had a similar modus operandi, which are being corroborated with the evidence found.
With the development of the investigation it was possible to establish that part of the dome of the criminal group was located in eight occupied houses of a building in Ramales de la Victoria and another part resided in different towns of Bizkaia.
Once the different objectives have been located, this April arrests and searches have been carried out in a coordinated manner in Cantabria, where 15 people have been detained, and in Bizkaia, where another nine have been detained.
Some of the detainees were in charge of getting rid of the stolen tobacco, being sold to other people at almost half its market price.
Research remains open
During the records, 138 evidences have been found that are being analyzed. Among others, cash registers, documentary evidence related to tobacco theft in stacks, lottery tenths, televisions or tools likely to have been used in the robberies have been found.
The operation was conducted by Examining Court number 3 of Santander and was carried out by members of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Cantabria.
In addition, during the exploitation phase, it was supported by other units of the Civil Guard of Cantabria, the Command of Bizkaia, the Rapid Action Group (GAR) and the Reserve and Security Group (ARS).
For any information related to this press release you can contact the press office of the Civil Guard in Cantabria at 942.32.14.00 extension 1300145/147.