THE WEATHER
Edition 346
www.thecourier.es
Friday 3rd November 2017
BANK ROBBERS BAGGED
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five-strong gang that blew up ATMs across Alicante Province have been arrested by the National Police in Santa Pola and El Altet, with three of them refused bail after an appearance at an Alicante court. The five Spaniards, aged between their twenties and forties, struck at a Santander branch on Plaza de Castilla in Elche last week, and that ultimately led to their detention. They were charged with ATM robberies in Rojales (pictured), the San Juan beach area of Alicante, and Elche, as well as being accused of drug trafficking. In late September, the gang bungled their Rojales robbery, as previously reported in The Courier, when they fled empty-hand-
ed after the alarm went off at a BBVA branch la Plaza de España. The National Police said the gang were meticulous in their prepartions, casing a bank branch for a number of days prior to striking, including working out various escape routes, and using false car number plates to put the authorities off the scent. The gang utilised a lot of expertise in explosives by creating a special battery powered detonator, and are estimated to have stolen around 10 thousand euro since their activities started in August. The damage due to the outside of the banks and the machines, according to the police, was substantially more than the actual amounts of cash that were
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tion of the economic recovery which was filtering through to the construction sector. Almagro added that the current land sale process is almost finished, and subject to legal approval he outlined a series of developments that would come from the money entering the council’s coffers. Planned projects for the Orihuela Costa, besides the proposed cultural centre, include improvements to the local roads, parks, and green areas. In Orihuela City, a refurbishment of the railway station ahead of the high speed AVE link is in the pipeline as
3 Bedroom Town House in Cabo Roig, Orihuela Costa TY ER OP THE R P F O EEK W
taken. The men had specific functions within the organisation with one being the explosive expert; another man being in charge of surveillance and escape routes; with the rest of the gang committing the actual robberies.
The crew were arrested over two days last week, with one of them apparently having been on the run from prison. They were also charged with distributing marijuana and hashish in Alicante Province and the Murcia region.
ORIHUELA’S LAND WINDFALL ive plots of land designated for building on the Orihuela Costa are set to make 14.5 million euro for Orihuela council, which is over two and a half million euro above the original projected value. The money is to be used for projects across the municipality which currently have no budget, including a new cultural centre for the Orihuela Costa. Orihuela’s planning councillor Rafael Almagro said that land prices had gone up by 50 percent over the last four years compared to the council’s last land auction in 2013, giving a strong indica-
See page 2 for the week´s forecast
well as building a sports complex, plus the creation of
more bicycle lanes across the municipality.
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