John Culatto
POLICE have re-arrested the criminal mastermind of a gang who allegedly stole luxury cars on the Costa del Sol and sold them to drug smugglers soon after his release from prison.
Policia Nacional detectives cottoned on to the connection between the sharp increase of four-wheel drive car robberies and the man’s recent release from prison to make the arrest.
Officers caught him redhanded as he got into a stolen car to drive it from Estepona to the Cerrado de Calderon neighbourhood of the city of Malaga.
Judges had set him free on the condition he would not commit the same crime in three years.
Investigators said that the gang busted last June carried out the robberies at residential complexes from Nerja to Estepona.
The criminals would use hi-tech frequency sensors to clone the opening frequencies of garage doors.
Then they would disconnect the car alarms and break in using corkscrews and lock picks.
Finally, they started up the SUVs with sophisticated key cloning techniques.
To stop the cars being tracked, the gang would disable their geolocation devices.
After leaving them in ‘cool-off’ locations for some time, they would sell them to drug smugglers for about €6,000 each.
Police arrested the suspect for these crimes and he will soon stand trial in Malaga courts.
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