THE WEATHER
See page 2 for the week´s forecast
www.thecourier.es
Edition 312
Friday 10th March 2017
COME ON OUT!
BY ALEX TRELINSKI
A
seven month operation by the Guardia Civil to track down a dangerous gang that robbed a La Zenia mobile phone shop in August, has led to three arrests being made in the Rojales and Torrevieja areas. Two men (aged 28 and 30) of Spanish and Bulgarian nationalities were detained, along with a 28year-old Spanish woman.
A
They are also accused of stealing goods from lorries and then selling them to specialist buyers, with the gang said to have assets and stolen items worth over half a million euro. Last August, over 24 thousand euro was seized after two of the gang struck at the Dog and Bone store in La Zenia. They pulled up on a motorbike and then went
inside, still wearing their helmets, and forced the shop staff and customers to lie on the floor. The duo then went and assaulted a female teller at the Eurochange booth, taking the money, and then made an quick exit on their motorbike. The Guardia said that the gang was involved in drug trafficking as well as in staging robberies, with Guardia
agents in Alicante and Pilar de la Horadada following up the hold up at La Zenia, by identifying them as stealing the contents of lorries. Two vehicles had 400 thousand euro worth of items removed on the AP-7 in the Ibi area of Alicante Province. Two home searches were carried out in Rojales and Torrevieja, with two indoor marijuana plantations discovered, in addition to associated drug equipment. The list of seized items included two high-end cars worth 25 thousand euro each; two large motorcycles; a large range of electronic and computer equipment including a laptop and a dozen mobile phones; and five thousand euro in cash. The Guardia said they uncovered evidence that the gang was planning to strike again, with the two male members being refused bail by the judge.
RETURN TO MISERY
ir carriers like Vueling, Easyjet and Ryanair were forced to cancel or reschedule flights to France and Spain this week due to a five-day strike by French air traffic controllers. Thousands of flights to and from the UK were among those forced to have been scrapped, with a string of delays and cancellations hitting services using Alicante-Elche and San Javier airports. The lobby group Airlines for Europe, of which Easyjet
and Ryanair are members, said that last year was a record year for air traffic controller disputes, many of which involving French workers, with 41 strike days logged. Ryanair’s marketing director, Kenny Jacobs (pictured), said: “We call on the French Government and European Commission to take immediate action to prevent thousands of European consumers from having their travel plans disrupted by a tiny group of ATC unions
going on strike.” "They cannot stand idly by and allow another summer
of disruption and travel misery for European consumers to take place."