Five in custody over motorway service station 'distraction' thefts on foreign and hire cars

GUARDIA Civil officers have arrested three men and two women said to be behind at least 17 robberies from drivers in motorway service stations along the east coast.

The accused parties, all from Eastern Europe, are believed to have used deception techniques such as asking directions, puncturing tyres and stealing bags when the occupant of the cars were distracted checking their wheels, and at times even employed force and violence.

Some of them would patrol the A-7 in the provinces of Murcia, Alicante, Valencia and Castellón looking for potential victims, who were normally tourists in hire cars or foreign-registered vehicles.

Investigations started some months ago and revealed that the suspects had links to other, similar gangs and carried out enough regular thefts that they were able to maintain a high standard of living off the proceeds.

Police raided a flat in the city of Alicante and confiscated numerous stolen goods such as suitcases, keys, mobile telephones, credit cards and various documents including passports and driving licences.

They believe more arrests could be in the pipeline.