Truck bound for Lithuania stop with two stolen vehicles inside

National Police officers, working with Guardia Civil personnel, have arrested two males, ages 27 and 30, for alleged car theft, document forgery, and criminal group activities. They took two vehicles in the regions of Alicante and Murcia, modifying its identification and license plates. They wanted to transport them to Lithuania by road in a flatbed truck disguised as a vehicle of legitimate origin.

Two vehicles were stolen on the same night

The joint investigation began after a specific brand of vehicle was stolen in the municipalities of Alicante, San Juan, El Campello, and Cartagena in a consistent pattern, prompting the combined efforts of both police departments.

In this regard, the theft of two vehicles in the early hours of the morning – one in El Campello and another in San Juan, both towns in Alicante bordering each other – prompted officers to shed light on the events, after linking the theft of these two vehicles to a third used by two men to travel between the two towns where the events occurred.

Thus, the agents began their investigation and discovered that the vehicle stolen in San Juan had been located and recovered in the Alicante town of Bussot, and that those involved were attempting to take the other vehicle out of the country, which led the agents’ investigation to an industrial estate in Alicante, where they were able to locate and recover it before it was stolen from the country.

The investigation continued until the perpetrators were apprehended in Murcia, where they were also linked to the theft of two other vehicles of the same make and model, one stolen in the town of Mar de Cristal, in the municipality of Cartagena (Murcia), and the other in the Alicante town of Pilar de la Horadada.

A flatbed truck headed for Lithuania

As a result of these events, a surveillance device was installed on the suspects and the stolen vehicles, allowing them to be located while arranging their transport with the driver of a flatbed truck intended for vehicle transport, with a Lithuanian license plate, where they were loaded alongside other vehicles already on board.

The suspects fled in a rental car in one direction, while the truck transporting the stolen automobiles went in the opposite direction. Finally, both individuals were apprehended and arrested in a highway service stop near Burriana (Castellón). They were taken to the Villareal Police Station and placed before the investigative court.

The inmates’ vehicle had a variety of gadgets, including a heat gun and an electrical device for starting vehicles without a key.

After the suspects were caught, the truck was intercepted on the AP-7 freeway travelling towards Almería. The truck driver, unaware of the illegal status of the two vehicles he was transporting, stated that he had been hired to pick them up in Jimenado, Ceutí (Murcia) and take them to Lithuania, although he did not know the exact location, as he would receive instructions upon arrival in the country, as well as payment upon delivery of the vehicles.

“Make-up” vehicles and two newly discovered facts

Subsequently, after the truck was intercepted and a thorough inspection of both vehicles was carried out, it was seen that the perpetrators had skilfully ‘dressed up’ them – fraudulent alteration of their identification elements in police slang – because, not only had they been provided with false number plates of foreign origin, but, in addition, they had altered their identification elements, so that the chassis number had been manipulated and the manufacturer’s lab

Finally, the arrest of the suspects resulted in the clarification of two further instances directly related to the plan, bringing the total number of stolen vehicles attributed to them to six, all of which occurred within a short period of time.

The operation was carried out by the National Police, using Judicial Police officers from the Alicante Provincial Police Station and the Cartagena Police Station (Murcia), as well as officials from the Guardia Civil Post in El Campello, Alicante.