Church robbery suspects arrested

Once taken from the churches, the items would then have been sold on the black market.

It has recently been reported that the National Police have arrested six people in Palma suspected of belonging to a gang which had been robbing items of value from churches around the island.

According to the Historic Heritage Robbery squad, the security forces have also successfully recovered the altar pieces, valued at six hundred thousand euros, stolen from the Montesion Church in Palma last August.

The arrests of five Spaniards, and one Cuban were the culmination of the so called “Operation Don Simon” which had been in progress since the middle of August.

Police had surmised that the detainees belonged to a gang which was extremely well organised and which allotted specific tasks to its members.

One of the jobs in question had been to assess the interiors of selected churches around the island and subsequently ascertain which items would be the easiest and most profitable to steal.

Once taken from the churches, the items would then be sold on the black market both on the island and at other locations across the mainland of Spain.

As well as the recovery of the valuable and religious items from the Church of Montesion, police also recovered 30 wooden candelabras of varying sizes embossed in gold leaf, possibly hand-crafted at the beginning of the last century. These had been stolen from the Church of San Salvador in the Palma suburb of Genova at the beginning of last month.

Other churches which had fallen prey to the activities of the gang are in Muro, Petra and Santa Margarita., with evidence coming to light that some of the artefacts were being sold at different second hand markets around Mallorca itself. Others, however, were sent to the mainland for selling through already established illicit channels.

Police sources state that further arrests are not being ruled out.

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