Before the big operation after Easter, the Mossos d'Esquadra used their social networks to alert citizens of the robberies that some groups commit on the highways, either with the deception of a mechanical problem while driving or with the theft of belongings in a service area, rest area or gas station. In the publication they shared on March 25, a sergeant explained the modus operandi of these thieves.
Well, today the Catalan police have made public on X (formerly Twitter) the images recorded by security cameras that show how these criminals act. Without a doubt, it is the best way to teach the population how they coordinate and the cunning they deploy to distract the victim and rob them without them knowing.
The Generalitat police force has reported that on March 21 they arrested three men, between 50 and 68 years old, as alleged perpetrators of a crime of robbery with violence and two thefts inside vehicles on the AP-7, in the Camp de Tarragona. As part of a device to prevent these crimes committed on the highway, a plainclothes patrol located in the service area of l'Hospitalet de l'Infant observed how a car with three occupants entered several times and circled the parking lot, observing parked vehicles. One of the subjects got out and began to look at what was in the cabin of the parked cars. On one occasion he tried to force the lock but when he couldn't open the door they left.
After issuing an alert, other agents were able to stop the car and identify the occupants, who had up to 75 police records. While the checks were being carried out, the command room reported that two crimes had recently occurred on the same highway: a theft in the Pont del Diable rest area in Tarragona and a violent robbery in the service area. del Mèdol.
The descriptions provided by the victims, the temporal chronology of events, as well as the recordings from the security cameras in the areas confirmed that the three men were also the alleged perpetrators of the two aforementioned crimes. The three were arrested. The driver was also arrested for a crime against road safety, since he was driving without ever having obtained a permit.
In the images shared by the Mossos you can clearly see how the thieves act. While one drives the vehicle they will use to escape, another distracts the person chosen to rob him and a third is in charge of accessing the cabin to steal his belongings. When he has already taken them, he gets into the car that is waiting for him to escape and his crony finishes the conversation with the victim to get in the car and disappear without having raised any suspicion.
To avoid this type of deception, it is important that when we get out of the car we make sure that the windows are up and the doors closed. We should never leave objects in sight, much less those of value. We have to be wary of who comes up to tell us something just when we are getting out of the car.
According to data provided by the Catalan police, in 2022, around 3,500 robberies perpetrated on highways and highways were reported. Of them, 350 (that is, 10%) were caused by force inside the vehicle or by theft of fuel; 700 (20%) corresponded to theft of cargo from trucks parked in rest areas; while the vast majority, 2,450 (70%), were thefts due to carelessness or deception.
