Alex Trelinski
POLICE have arrested Alex di Francesco in Rome- the man branded as Spain’s top safe cracker- and nicknamed ‘posh boy’ for being the son of a former Italian MP and a Madrid lawyer.
He was detained on Friday in the Fiumicino district of the capital according to Prensa Iberia.
Di Francesco had two arrest warrants in his name for robberies in Cadiz and Malaga provinces.
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Authorities believed he could be in Italy after his associate Carlos La Mola was arrested there in August.
Di Francesco has not been seen since 2022, when he was released from a German prison after serving three years for robbing several jewellery stores.
He was arrested three years earlier during Operation Speer after stealing, along with four others, €45,000 from a hotel safe.
According to police sources, Alex di Francesco had been regularly arrested- up to 19 times- in Spain since 2008.
In one of the latest warrants, in 2017, a judge set a €50,000 bail which he paid quickly to get his release by selling one of his luxury cars.
One police officer told the ABC newspaper: “He is a greedy and very distrustful subject, but very good in his way of working, despite not being popular.”
He developed a taste for a hedonistic and luxury lifestyle, featuring fast cars, tattoos and pricey nightclubs – with Marbella said to be a favourite spot of his.
Another master criminal, El Mongolo, allegedly taught Francesco the tricks of the trade, turning him into an expert in so-called oxy cutting.
The complex technique consists of burning and melting the steel and iron of a safe with a blowtorch.
