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ROBBERY

Spanish farmers tool up to tackle thieves

A wave of rural robberies in Murcia has led farmers to look for ways to legally arm themselves in order to defend their livelihoods.

Spanish farmers tool up to tackle thieves
Get off my land: farmers have been warned that hunting licences do not permit them to shoot at would-be intruders. File Photo: Flickr/Hortolano

The president of the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Growers (COAG) in the southeast Spanish city of Cartagena revealed details this week of a crime wave that is frustrating local farmers.

Vincente Carrión told La Opinion de Murcia newspaper: "In the last week alone they've stolen two power converters and broken into three houses."

Civil Guard officers have warned farmers that they are not allowed to use firearms to deter would-be intruders, even if the firearms are legally owned.

"A hunting licence doesn't allow a property owner to use a gun as a means of defence," explained Carrión.

He added: "But it's not unheard of for  someone with a hunting licence to fire a shot into the air to scare off thieves."

Carrión also explained that a hunting licence was not an open licence to carry a gun at any time and any place.

"One man was out with a shotgun at night, next to a road, and the Civil Guard called him to order."

To avoid legal difficulties, farmers' groups are looking into acquiring qualifications as 'country guards' , which confer permission to patrol one's land and carry a firearm.

Carrión noted that "large landowners are choosing to use private security firms, alarm systems and video surveillance to protect their properties."

He added: "But small farmers can't afford that level of security."

Carrión hoped that the Civil Guard and local police would coordinate their efforts better and continue to work with local farmers to seek solutions "to put an end to this wave of robberies."

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ROBBERY

Axe-wielding robbers steal €400k of jewels from luxury Paris hotel

French police are searching for a team of robbers who stole thousands of euros' worth of jewels and luxury clothing in a nighttime raid at a plush hotel in Paris.

Axe-wielding robbers steal €400k of jewels from luxury Paris hotel
Thieves targeted the Peninsula Hotel in Paris. Photo: AFP

Two men wearing balaclavas and gloves entered the Peninsula hotel, just a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe, shortly after midnight and held employees at gunpoint, police sources said.

One of the attackers then used an axe to break into four display cases, making off with items worth a total of €350,000 to €400,000.

An accomplice then drove them away in a car that was found burning shortly afterwards in the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of the capital.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in the robbery, the sources said.

France's organised crime brigade has taken over the inquiry.

Luxury Paris hotels have been the target of several robberies in recent years, as have jewellery stores and wealthy tourists visiting the city.

In January 2018, three men were charged over an audacious yet unsuccessful jewellery heist at the Ritz, after they were thwarted by locked doors as they tried to flee.

Last September, three Russian tourists were robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry and luxury clothing shortly after landing at a Paris airport reserved for private jets.

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