The Judicial Police Team of Albacete and the ROCA Team of Albacete, within the framework of operation ‘Kolone’, have arrested five people and investigated two others, as alleged perpetrators of twenty-three burglaries inside plots and country houses located in the municipal areas of Albacete and Pozo Cañada, as well as another one inside a vehicle in Albacete capital.
The arrested and investigated individuals, residents of Albacete aged between 20 and 38, are also being investigated for belonging to a criminal group specialized in property crimes, with most of them having police records for similar offenses, including violent crimes.
As reported in a press release, the Civil Guard of Albacete had been investigating a series of burglaries inside chalets, country houses, and plots, mostly located in urbanizations of the Albacete municipal area and the Santa Ana district. The perpetrators behind these crimes were believed to be members of a criminal group who had been under surveillance for months.
All these criminal acts, committed in a short period of time and in a very specific area of Albacete, shared a common denominator: the nature of the stolen items. The authors not only stole jewelry and cash, but also electronic devices easily sold on the black market, household utensils, home goods, and furniture.
HIERARCHIZED CRIMINAL GROUP
The investigations carried out by the Civil Guard allowed to verify how this criminal group, perfectly hierarchized, was structured into several subgroups. While some conducted a prior reconnaissance of the area and located the targets, others were responsible for committing the crimes, and a third subgroup carried out surveillance tasks in case of police presence, residents, or neighbors.
The information, evidence, and inquiries obtained during the investigations, combined with police work and citizen collaboration, created a connection that fully identified five members of the criminal group, as well as two others with sporadic participations, who were eventually arrested.
EXPLOITATION PHASE, REGISTRATION, AND SEIZED ITEMS
As a result of the police investigation and once the level of involvement of the detainees in the investigated events was confirmed, the Civil Guard carried out the operation’s exploitation, conducting several raids on the properties of the detainees. Numerous stolen items from the burglaries were seized during these raids and have already been returned to their rightful owners.
With the arrest of the perpetrators of the investigated criminal offenses and the dismantling of the criminal group, the Civil Guard has clarified a total of 23 burglary offenses, fifteen of them committed in plots and country houses in the municipal area of Albacete, eight in Pozo Cañada, and one theft inside a vehicle in the capital of Albacete.
The police proceedings conducted by the Civil Guard of Albacete, along with the five detained individuals, were handed over to the Court of Instruction Number 1 of Albacete, which has been overseeing the investigation since its inception.