Alex Trelinski
THE Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional have pooled resources to arrest looters of homes, stores, and shopping centres affected by the Valencia area flood disaster.
Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska(pictured above), said on Friday that an appropriate number of officers had been deployed to deal with the criminals.
Speaking after an emergency coordination meeting in l’Eliana, the minister added that the two law enforcement branches are working ‘jointly’.
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“The incidents of looting are hurtful acts that seem alien to basic humanity,” the minister said.
According to the Guardia Civil, they arrested 14 people on Thursday, plus identified an additional 183 suspects as well as 75 vehicles involved in looting incidents.
A further 39 were arrested by the Policia Nacional, five of whom stole €30,000 in jewellery from a store at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia.
A Torrent court denied bail on Thursday to four men detained by the Guardia over robberies at the same complex.
The four were caught in the area with items taken from several stores including sports gear, mobile phones and a video game console.
The Valencia Province Prosecutor’s Office said on Thursday that it wants instant bail refusals for everybody arrested for robberies in areas affected by flooding.
It said that such conduct was ‘totally morally and criminally intolerable’
A statement went further: “In these dramatic times where people have lost their lives and thousands have lost all their possessions in a devastating DANA, robberies and thefts are taking place in situations of helplessness of the victims, with contempt for them and an attempt to ensure impunity.
