The National Police has dismantled a traveling gang specialized in looting toy stores in several Spanish provinces (Zaragoza, Madrid, Granada and Malaga), especially during the Christmas period, when they are most active. In total, the agents have arrested six of its members, based in the Community of Madrid, for the theft of 14 premises in the last four years, in which they appropriated around 150,000 euros in total.
The criminals acted in an organized manner with what is known in police jargon as the 'encalomo' method, which consists of hiding in the place of the robbery before it is closed to loot it once it is empty.
In this case, a small group of two or three people entered the commercial premises in the hours close to closing time. The leader of the gang, an old acquaintance of justice with more than 60 criminal records who hid behind a latex mask to avoid identification, selected an ideal hiding place (for example, between several bicycle boxes). Another member was hiding there, while a third covered him with surveillance tasks.
Once alone, the criminal came out of his hiding place and, with the necessary tools that he carried in a backpack, searched and forced open the safe and the cash register before quickly escaping through the emergency exit and joining his cronies.
The investigation began in Aragón in 2020 as a result of two robberies in a well-known shopping center, in which 15,000 euros were seized from each store.
With the perpetrators fully identified and located, on March 21, six of the members were arrested in Madrid and the leader's home was searched. There, a large number of tools and instruments that could be used in the commission of crimes were seized (lock picks, frequency jammers, cylinder extractors), several cell phones and more than 5,000 euros in cash.
All of them were brought to justice accused of belonging to a criminal gang and robbery and are free with charges.
The leader is also accused of a crime of money laundering that he carried out through the acquisition of vehicles, some high-end, in the name of third parties such as his 10-year-old daughter (he had 4 cars awarded).
According to the agents, the profile of the rest of the criminals is “much lower” than that of the ringleader. Investigators have identified six other alleged participants, of whom one has already been expelled from national territory and three others have left the country. The investigation remains open and new arrests are not ruled out.
