Alex Trelinski
The men reportedly spent a week criss-crossing the AP-7 motorway to at least 40 golf courses, where they broke into parked cars.
Guardia Civil said the men, aged 30 and 32, hit the golf courses between May 19 and 26, despite lockdown restrictions barring all but essential journeys between provinces.
The duo’s nationalities have not been disclosed.
Each break-in involved the use of a frequency inhibitor to disable the car´s central locking system, which then allowed the men access to steal any valuables.
All of the 10 charges of theft and robbery involved vehicles owned by non-Spaniards.
Authorities were alerted to the duo´s week of crime when a golfer reported a break-in while he was playing on a course in the municipality of Denia.
Guardia agents were able to get CCTV footage of the robbery and they began to suspect the duo may have struck at other courses.
Investigation indicated their activities included seven crimes in the Pilar de la Horadada and Orihuela areas in the south of the Costa Blanca, and much further south in Malaga on the Costa del Sol.
Guardia Civil said the men visited courses in eight provinces from Barcelona and Tarragona in the north, down to Almería and Malaga in Andalucia.
After the robbery in Denia, an urgent operation was launched to catch them before they left the Costa Blanca area, and one of the duo was arrested in a Benidorm sports shop, while his colleague was stopped from fleeing in a rental car.
Officers recovered an expensive watch and several items of branded clothing that had been stolen, and they seized €554 in cash.
It was revealed that the men had an existing criminal record for similar crimes and had been barred from leaving Spain.
