A 41-year-old man was detained by the Guardia Civil in a Callosa de Segura gaming facility for attempting to illegally win prizes by manipulating an electronic roulette wheel. After being taken before a judge, the arrested man—who had 10 outstanding warrants for similar offences in other provinces—was sent to prison.

A gambling hall notified the municipal Guardia Civil patrol about the potential manipulation of an electronic roulette wheel in the early hours of March 6th.

Officers arrived and found the man using tools to operate a slot machine before identifying him. By using a wire to stop the wheel at advantageous positions and drilling holes in the machine’s glass, they discovered that he had accrued an unpaid balance of €8,000. The man tried to leave the building at that point, smashing the emergency exit door. Despite the suspect’s fierce resistance, officers were able to apprehend him in the car park after pursuing him.

Officers searched his possessions and discovered a tool he had used to drill holes in the roulette wheel, along with more than €6,300 in cash. He received 10 search and arrest warrants from various Spanish courts, all of them were related to identical offences, it was confirmed after his identity was verified.

He was turned over to Orihuela’s Court of Instruction No. 3, which imposed an incarceration order on him.

As part of Operation Thunder, which has been conducted in 135 countries in cooperation with groups and entities like the World Customs Organisation, the Guardia Civil’s Nature Protection Service (Seprona) has detained 13 individuals on suspicion of being involved in the illegal trafficking of protected species in Spain.

According to Seprona, the programme is one of the biggest worldwide efforts to combat environmental crimes, having recovered over 20,000 wildlife species in recent years. nineteen endangered turtles have been saved in Alicante.

The cyber patrol was coordinated by Spanish agents with help from specialised NGOs and Europol, and included environmental crime experts from Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.

In Spain

The Guardia Civil in Spain has conducted 438 inspections, found 193 administrative and 11 criminal infractions, arrested and investigated 13 individuals, and seized 50 inert pieces, including ivory, tusks, paws, and skins, as well as 192 live specimens.

In his presentation of the investigations’ primary findings, Commander Ramón González Gallego noted that “in recent years we have detected a certain interest in venomous animals such as snakes,” and that “the European Union is a transit point, but also a destination and origin point for species trafficking,” particularly with regard to birds and reptiles.

Even if “some people are unaware that they are committing a crime,” the reality is that “we are increasingly seeing a more serious form of organised crime, which involves breeding and harvesting species for the purpose of generating profit.”

González claims that the financial gains from this kind of illicit commerce “vary depending on the sources consulted, but internationally, the range is very wide” and surpass 20 billion euros.

Penalties and violations

Along with one smuggling offence and another animal abuse offence linked to the trafficking of protected species, nearly all of the criminal offences found in Spain were related to document falsification.

The Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Law, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) regulations, companion animal regulations, and animal health and disease and infection regulations were the most prominent administrative infractions.

According to Commander González, the punishments meted out to criminals in this space “are still low, but they are increasing because they are often associated with other crimes such as document forgery,” and “an increase in penalties is expected in the short term.”

Additionally, Operation Thunder has made it possible to identify wood shipments from countries like Russia and Burma that are forbidden because of their origin and EU regulations.

Operational Features

Among the noteworthy operations, Seprona reported recovering 32 species from under the seats and in the trunk of a car in Tenerife, including a gallipato, a Mexican orange-legged tarantula, and a tortoise.

During a check of a residence in Telde (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), investigators found 31 other species, including pythons, enormous African snails, California garter snakes, yellow scorpions, and lizards.

18 internationally protected and endangered turtles were rescued by Guardia Civil officers in Alicante and taken to the Santa Faz Wildlife Recovery Centre.

A suitcase carrying 98 birds—both siskins and goldfinches, which are protected nationally—was discovered inside a car in Huelva.

Eduardo Dolón, the mayor of Torrevieja, Federico Alarcón, the councillor for security and emergencies, and Alejandro Morer, the director general of police, presented the 17 new cars that will be used by the Local Police on Paseo Vista Alegre yesterday morning, Wednesday 2nd March. The vehicles will be leased for four years with a purchase option.

A total of 1,147,660.80 euros (286,915.20 euros for each contract year) is allocated for the purchase of these cars.

The 17 vehicles that are leased are:

• Ten SUV patrol cars, all hybrids (four equipped with police gear and an arrest kit, and six equipped with police gear but no arrest kit).

• Two vans: one with nine seats for police equipment and one for police and report preparations.

• A police-equipped all-terrain pickup truck for the Environmental Group.

• Four local police general service support cars without police gear (they should only have rotating magnetic LED lights with an integrated siren and, in three of them, police shields on the front and rear hoods and doors).

In addition, the successful bidder, Transtel, has offered to deliver to Torrevieja City Council two portable vehicle battery jump starters, each worth €200, two fixed/portable vehicle jump starters/chargers, each worth €600, and a high-quality workshop tool trolley with at least 170 parts, valued at €300.

Eduardo Dolón, the mayor of Torrevieja, has emphasised the financial investments made by the city council of Torrevieja in recent years to enhance the number of police officers and the fleet of vehicles of the Local Police, which has increased significantly in the last two years.

Eduardo Dolón said that the government team hopes to increase the number of officers in the Torrevieja Local Police force to 200 by the end of the current term in 2027. This is a significant number in order to provide all the necessary citizen security services that the thousands of tourists who visit Torrevieja each year and the residents of Torrevieja themselves deserve.