The National Police have detained three people who are thought to be part of a criminal group located in La Nucia, near Benidorm. This group is accused of stealing cars to utilise their parts in other cars that were damaged, especially by the DANA storm that hit Valencia in October 2024. The investigation is still going on, and further arrests could happen.
According to a police statement, the inquiry started when authorities learnt about a group that was said to be stealing cars of a certain brand in the province of Alicante.
After some initial investigations, they found out that the stolen cars were allegedly being taken apart and their pieces put back together with other wrecked cars of the same model, with the goal of selling them on the legal used car market.
Cars that were damaged in the DANA storm
Once the agents figured out who the three men were who were supposedly in charge of the plot, they set up surveillance and found the place where they were supposedly using as a workshop to take apart and put together cars. It was in a single-family home in a villa development in La Nucia.
At the same time, investigations into where the destroyed cars came from showed that they were cars that had been damaged in the DANA storm in Valencia.
Available for purchase on the second-hand market
The National Police say that the criminals bought the automobiles directly from private people with cash. They only stole mid- to high-end vehicles of the same make. Then they would find a car of the same make and model, take it, and park it in a certain spot to “cool off” for a short time before bringing it to the residence where they kept the damaged car.
There, it would be totally taken apart and put back together on the chassis of the automobile that was bought as a wreck. After that, it would be sold on the legal used car market in other nations. In this approach, the inmates would be putting what looked like lawful mid- to high-end cars on the market, making it harder to find the ones that were stolen.
Two plots and a search of the house
The investigation says there are two related schemes: one is for stealing cars and the other is for buying wrecked cars and then putting them back on the road, since the only place they could go would be permanent deregistration for scrapping or destruction.
Finally, a search warrant was carried out at the home that was being utilised as a workshop. Along with the arrest of the three suspects, the operation also found two high-end cars that had just been stolen in the Alicante towns of El Campello and Elche. Specifically, it was said that the first car had been given a new German ID, and the second car was in the process of having its ID markings modified.
The officers also took the cars of the three people they thought were participating in the scam to find out who they really were. The cars were salvaged and were the same makes and models as the ones that were being looked into. After these investigations, it was found that the cars “had been fitted with stolen parts.”
The search also found tools for making fake cars, like a key cloning kit and tracking systems. They are said to have used these to find the cars they wanted to steal. They also found a lot of car keys, control unit reprogramming systems, and a lot of documents about cars of the brands that were the targets of these alleged crimes.
After police investigations, the inmates were brought before the duty magistrates. They are accused of stealing cars, forging documents, and being members of a criminal organisation. The investigation is still open since there is still a “enormous amount” of paperwork that needs to be looked at, and more arrests relating to this case are possible.
Author: Derek Appleton
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