Alex Trelinski
A major Alicante Province home robbery gang has been broken up in a joint Guardia Civil-Policia Nacional operation.
14 people have been arrested and two more are being investigated over 86 robberies from properties in the Albacete, Alicante, and Murcia areas.
Four of those detained have been jailed.
35 stolen cars have been recovered with some of the vehicles used to take gang members to robbery sites.
The police probe began in August with burglary reports coming from mainly country properties which all followed the same pattern.
Each break-in occurred when there was nobody at home.
High-value electrical goods were targeted along with parked cars.
The Guardia Civil said the thieves were caught out on one occasion when they had to flee after the property owner appeared brandishing a firearm.
All of the gang members are Moroccan nationals, mainly based in the Callosa de Segura and Granja de Rocamora areas of the Vega Baja in Alicante Province.
They travelled as far as Albacete Province and the Murcia region to commit robberies.
The crew even had a designated storage space for all of their loot.
Authorities accessed security cameras from robbed homes and other locations to build up a profile of the gang and to identify them.
Some of the stolen goods were recovered during eight house searches in the Vega Baja, with property returned to their rightful owners.
Investigations are still continuing.
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