A group of thieves carried out a major heist at the Dior store on Passeig de Gràcia on October 27, 2022. At dawn, they managed to gain access to the establishment and took 350,000 euros worth of luxury items, bags and pieces of clothing. Last week, a year after the events, the Civil Guard in a joint operation with the Mossos d'Esquadra arrested four thieves who participated in that great robbery. The arrests took place in Madrid, Leganés and Toledo. The authors are between 25 and 35 years old and have numerous prior records for similar events. One of them has fifty arrests under his belt. After being brought to justice, they were released with charges.
The perpetrators of the robbery are known aluniceros but on this occasion they did not commit the robbery by crashing the car into the window but rather by looking for a new crack in the security and accessing the premises through the adjacent door through which the employees of the premises enter. The identification task was not easy. Thieves take a lot of precautions. They wear dark clothing, hoods, and gloves so that nothing can identify them. However, the moments prior to arrival at the establishment in which they did not go with their faces covered allowed the Mossos to give them names and surnames.
When the police began to investigate another robbery attempt that occurred earlier, they already had some clue as to who it could be. After the assault, it was clearer. It was in January 2023, when members of the same gang tried to commit a moon landing, this time in the Prada store also on Passeig de Gràcia. Three of them were identified by the Mossos as the perpetrators of the robbery at the Dior store. After committing the robbery, they fled in a large displacement car, which they got rid of by burning it in a secluded area of a highway in Madrid. “There are occasions in which they spray the interior of the vehicle with a fire extinguisher so that we do not find fingerprints or other vestiges that can identify them,” explains sub-inspector Isidoro Barbero, head of the central unit for multiple repeat offenders of the Mossos d'Esquadra. The group is very itinerant and performs anywhere in Spain. “They move very quickly. In a matter of ten hours they arrive in Barcelona from Madrid, commit the robbery and leave again,” emphasizes the sub-inspector. Sometimes, they settle for a few days in the place where they plan to dock and have the collaboration of other gangs that provide them with accommodation and logistical support to place the loot in exchange for a percentage of the profits.
