The Guardia Civil, under Operation Ricomar, has dismantled two separate gangs involved in thefts from vehicles in commercial centres, service stations and even airports.
The leaders of each gang were both members of another similar organisation dismantled in 2012, which is where they learned their trade. Using their experience from the earlier gang they set up new outfits at different ends of the province.
The police operation began in August after the theft of €2,750 from a vehicle in a service station in Maro. The money had been collected from vending machines in the area.
The gangs would carry out surveillance prior to acting, then break rear windows of cars to gain access to the boot via the back seat. Both gangs took elaborate steps to avoid detection, including temporarily moving to other provinces to catty out robberies.
Four people were arrested in the operation and during a search of two houses rented by the gang, numerous items were recovered including suitcases belonging to tourists.