A hundred agents of the National Police, some arriving from special groups located in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, have dismantled a dangerous criminal network allegedly dedicated to kidnappings, robberies with violence, drug trafficking, possession of weapons and other crimes related to other criminal groups. There are 26 detainees in the Alicante towns of Crevillent and Alcoi and in the Murcian town of Alguazas.
The beginning of the investigation took place in mid-2023, when agents assigned to the Specialized and Violent Crime Unit of the Elx Police Station became aware of events that involved extreme violence, as indicated by the National Police in a statement.
Apparently, three young people had been injured, threatened with firearms and kidnapped, until they handed over a significant amount of money to pay for their release. The story of one of the victims was "shocking", since she stated that an unknown vehicle approached them when they were traveling on the national highway that connects Elx with Crevillent, blocking their path and preventing them from continuing their march.
Several individuals who identified themselves as police officers emerged from the vehicle, fired shots into the air with firearms to restrain them, and "with great violence" introduced those attacked into their vehicle. The young victim said that they covered her head and forced her, through violence, to locate an area where she kept a significant amount of money.
During the journey, they wounded him in the legs with a knife to break his will, until he confessed where he kept the money. In the end, the victims were released, while the perpetrators got a loot of 200,000 euros.
The National Police obtained evidence that pointed to those attacked as members of a criminal group and that what they were denouncing had signs of being a 'turnaround'.
Since then, an extensive and laborious investigation was carried out by the UDEV Group, with multiple ways of collecting information, because those investigated used a multitude of security measures to avoid being discovered.
The main activity of the criminal network was perpetrating robberies against other criminal groups, most of which were dedicated to drug trafficking. This criminal typology is known in police jargon as 'overturns' and for investigators their investigation is "very complicated", due to the little collaboration of their victims, in cases where they report the facts.
The modus operandi consisted of capturing information from the environment of a previously focused criminal group, which was usually dedicated to storing drugs (which could be marijuana or cocaine). Once they discovered the place where these criminal groups kept the narcotic substance and what security measures they used for its custody, they proceeded to assault with "extreme violence" the buildings, vehicles or warehouses where they hid the substances.
The exploitation phase was carried out on February 6, with the entry and registration of nine properties distributed in different municipalities of Alicante and Murcia -one in Alcoi, four in Crevillent and four in Alguazas-. During the searches, the National Police arrested 26 people related to the events, many of them belonging to the same family clan.
In addition, four long firearms and four short firearms were seized (three pistols and a revolver), various ammunition, machetes and knives, 75 grams of cocaine, 40 kilograms of marijuana and 352 marijuana plants in two plantations found in the homes of Alguazas and Crevillent.
The detainees are 17 men and nine women, between 17 and 57 years of age - three in Alcoi, nine in Alguazas, eleven in Crevillent and three in the Elx Police Station. They accumulate a large amount of police records, some for events similar to those that gave rise to their arrest.
Today, 12 of the 26 detainees have been handed over to the Investigative Courts on duty in Elx, Alcoi and Molina del Segura. They are charged with crimes such as kidnapping, robbery with violence and intimidation, illicit possession of weapons, drug trafficking, injuries, damages and membership in a criminal organization. The investigation remains open, so more arrests are not ruled out.
As for the eleven detained in Crevillent, they belong to a family clan settled in the old town of the town and "they would be causing a real ordeal" to the municipality "due to their bad habits and inappropriate behavior." The Police have indicated that they had "frightened all the neighbors, who in their exhaustion would have chosen not to meet on those streets, nor with the members of the clan out of fear."
In the operational deployment, which has hosted more than a hundred members of the National Police, a variety of special groups have participated, such as the Special Security Operational Groups of the Higher Headquarters of Valencia and Barcelona, the Operational Group of Technical Interventions of Madrid, the Prevention and Reaction Units of Alicante, Elx and Murcia and the Canine Guide Units of Alicante and Murcia.
The Judicial Police from the Yecla Police Station and the entire Judicial Police Brigade in Elx also participated. In addition, it was decided that, to give "greater security" to the operation, the Aerial Media Unit of the Higher Headquarters of Valencia would support it in the towns of Alguaza and Crevillent by means of the 'Condor' Helicopter, as well as by the Drones of the Units in Murcia and Alicante, which allowed a view from the air for greater security.
In fact, one of those arrested from the town of Alguazas tried to escape from detention by escaping through the roof of the building, but the National Police monitored him from the air, which allowed his arrest. Likewise, they have highlighted the "appreciable collaboration" of the Crevillent Local Police Force.
