Walter Finch
A PAIR of tunnelling burglars have pulled off their last heist after police brought their crime spree to a close.
The unlikely Spanish nationals are thought to be responsible for a spate of burglaries and robberies in Mallorca using a 6,000C ‘thermal lance.’
Using this industrial tool designed to cut through concrete, steel and metal alloys, they are thought to have robbed banks, restaurants, shops and businesses.
In one supermarket in the town of Muro, they broke through the wall, disabled the alarms, forced open the safe with the thermal lance and made off with €10,000.
They are also accused of another robbery at a business in the port of Palma, which they gained access to by forcing a window and disabling the alarm.
They then used a highly volatile oxyacetylene mixture to cut open the safe and steal €15,000.
Another attempt to remove an ATM from its installation using hammers and a stolen car in Llucmajor was less successful.
Due to the specialised tools and techniques employed by the criminals, investigators part of ‘Operation Lanzeroski’ were able to follow several leads to track them down.
Guardia Civil determined that the duo were using a multiservice company registered in one of their names to obtain the necessary information about places where they had worked previously. They then returned at a later date in order to pull off the heists.
Three separate raids were carried out on April 26 at two homes and one storage unit.
A large amount of equipment used for committing crimes was seized, including code cloners, lock-opening equipment, levers, frequency inhibitors, and hydraulic jacks.
The officers were also surprised to find homemade nails that the thieves had intended to use to burst the tires of police vehicles in the event of a pursuit.
Cash of €6,000 was also recovered, along with jewellery and numerous brand new watches, all of which were believed to have been obtained from the crimes.
More heists are thought to have been carried out which the police are not yet aware of and further arrests and charges may follow.
