Gang of bank robbers smashed by Guardia Civil in Madrid

CONSIDERED by the authorities as being one of the most successful of gangs involved in bank robberies in Spain, the Guardia Civil has arrested six Spaniards and one person from the Dominican Republic after five months of investigations.

The investigation was sparked when it was realized that a number of banks across Spain had been broken into at night and had their safes broken open, all with apparently similar methods of operation.

Evidence suggested that break-ins had taken place in, Aragon, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Extremadura, La Mancha, Madrid and Navarra and that they may have all been undertaken by a gang based in Madrid.

Having identified a number of suspects who had a history of bank robbery, officers started to keep a watch on them and discovered that the seven men, aged between 20 and 40 had created a very sophisticated hierarchy.

They basically stole high end vehicles and parked them some distance from where they were stolen to see whether they carried any form of GPS protection and if they were not recovered within a few days, the cars would be moved to a garage where they would have false number plates fitted.

Having identified a bank to break into, the gang would proceed in two vehicles and drop off those responsible for breaking into the bank itself and cutting the alarms. Once this was done, they made it look as if there was a system failure rather than an attack on the alarm.

Having satisfied themselves that they could proceed safely, others joined them and broke into the bank safe by use of an oxyacetylene torch and where necessary a sledgehammer before making their escape after sharing out the loot.

After raiding a number of properties, officers removed three firearms, more than €20,000 in cash, as well as frequency inhibitors, acetylene torches and other safe breaking tools.