Edition 361
A
Friday 2nd March 2018
SOCKING IT TO THEM
pack of brand new socks helped to identify a five-strong robbery gang that operated in the Torrevieja area. Four of the group, who were arrested by the Guardia Civil, were members of the same family, namely a Moroccan woman, and three Algerian men who are accused of seven burglary crimes, as they targeted homes in the La Siesta urbanisation. The fifth person in the gang was a 33year-old Spanish woman. Objects worth over 100 thousand euro were recovered by the Guardia, and in one of three house raids, they found a pack of unworn branded socks that had been perfectly described by a home owner who was one of their victims. That exact description helped to match the gang to the robberies in La Siesta. The group seemed to steal anything that they
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could lay their hands on from socks, jewellery and mobile phones, through to cars. They also seemed to operate during the daytime, between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm in the hope that the property owners would be out either shopping or at work. After reports of the La Siesta burglaries, the Guardia launched an investigation, and spotted the same people roaming around the area in different rental cars. They started to follow them, and they checked out their procedures, which including watching properties for several days to work out the routines of their owners. When they were reasonably happy that a home was empty, they would jump over a fence or a wall, and then force their way through what they had worked out previously was the easiest point of access into the building.
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Property ID: 511 - 279,000€ SEE OUR AD ON PAGES 16 & 17 FOR OUR LATEST ADDITIONS The gang leader would drive the getaway rental car, despite the fact that he did not have a driving licence, and in one case, they swapped the hire vehicle for the home owner’s car, which they then used for the next robbery Once the Guardia identified all the individual gang members, they made raids at three addresses, where they discovered items worth a total of over 100 thousand
euro, which also included a couple of stolen cars, in addition to the distinctive package of socks! The three men that were detained by the Guardia were aggressive in custody with one of them damaging the door of one of the jail cells at their barracks. Four of the accused, barring the 52-year-old gang leader, were released on bail after an appearance at a Torrevieja court.
TAXI STOPS ANNOUNCED
rihuela and Torrevieja councils, along with taxi association representatives, have reached an agreement over which stops they would like to use in a reciprocal taxi service agreement to run this summer. As reported in last week’s Courier, the proposals are now being sent for approval to the Valencian transport department for the deal to be authorised. The groups from Orihuela and Torrevieja came together to find a solution to the increasing problems faced by people waiting a long time for taxis dur-
ing the summer months on the Orihuela Costa and the Torrevieja coastal area. The period proposed to be covered is from June 16th to September 15th, with cabs from both municipalities being allowed to drop off and pick up customers from four spots in Torrevieja, namely the Paseo de la Libertad; the Casagrande industrial estate; the bus station; and Torrevieja Hospital. The Orihuela Costa points would be at Playa Flamenca; Zenia Boulevard; Cabo Roig; and Villamartin,
Torrevieja’s transport councillor, Javier Manzanares (pictured left), said that if the scheme
works this summer, then all the parties involved would hope to do it again next year.