Car thefts, either the entire vehicle or its contents, now account for 33% of all crimes in Málaga province and 39% of crimes in the city itself.
The thefts basically fall into three different categories, the one constant factor generally being that the criminals themselves are habitual offenders.
Luxury cars: These are mostly targeted by foreign-organised gangs, generally East European. Scanners are used to capture the remote control frequency and then within ten seconds, the car is open, started up and on its way.
If, for any reason, they are unable to access the vehicle this way, the most common procedure is to carry out a robbery at the home of the owner, with force if necessary, making sure to take the car keys.
These vehicles are generally out of the country within 24 hours ready for resale abroad.
Mid-range cars: Thefts of mid-range cars tend to be either for use as a ‘taxi’ to make short, local trips, or to be used in the committing of another crime, usually a robbery, somewhere else. Once used for whichever purpose, they are normally just abandoned or set on fire to destroy the evidence.
Contents: The theft of the contents of cars is very often the work of habitual criminals. Currently, the most ‘prized’ items are music players and GPS systems, although most are not averse to taking whatever the owner has left in the vehicle, even a pair of sunglasses, a cd or a few tools.
It may come as a surprise, but the stealing of a music player can be considered a more serious crime that taking the whole vehicle! Under the law, one is robbery and the other is theft, with both being treated differently and having different consequences.