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CRIME

Spain smashes burglary gang that targeted footballers’ homes

Spanish police on Wednesday said that they had busted a burglary gang that targeted luxury properties in Madrid, including the homes of at least two top-tier La Liga players.

Spain smashes burglary gang that targeted footballers' homes
Real Madrid's Brazil winger Rodrygo was among the footballers targeted by the burglars. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Six suspects were arrested in connection with “eight house burglaries since July 2022”, a police statement said.

Police sources said that among the houses targeted were those of Real Madrid’s Brazil winger Rodrygo and Colombia striker Radamel Falcao, who plays for rival Madrid team Rayo Vallecano.

They refused to say whether any more footballers were affected.

To scope out their targets, the burglars “would check social media, studying the photographs and videos that the footballers and their friends and family would post from inside their homes,” the statement said.

That enabled them to earmark valuable objects and where they were, but social media posts also tipped them off as to “when the owners were not at home”.

They would visit the properties to look at the outside to study the types of security systems being used and to scope out the best way to get in.

The suspects were arrested on eight charges of robbery with force, one of robbery with violence or intimidation, falsifying documents and money laundering among others, with a judge ordering three of them to be remanded in custody.

The incident that tipped off police to their activity took place in May 2023 in the northern suburb of Alcobendas with a theft mainly involving luxury watches and jewellery that was worth some 500,000 euros ($550,000).

During the arrest operation, police seized 10 luxury watches, jewels and more than 3,300 euros in cash, along with two air pistols.

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CRIME

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

Europol said Thursday that a crime ring smuggling drugs into Europe had collapsed as the result of an investigation involving 40 arrests and the seizure of eight tonnes of cocaine.

Europol bust cocaine gang with arrests in Marbella and Canary Islands

The Hague-based European police force said the entire cartel, whose leaders were based in Turkey and Dubai, had been dealt a major blow after a final set of arrests Wednesday.

The vast three-year-long operation involved police forces from a dozen countries and ranged from Brazil to Spain via Turkey.

According to Europol, the final phase of the operation began with the discovery in August 2023 by the Spanish Guardia Civil of 700 kilos (1,540 pounds)of cocaine in a boat off the Canary Islands, crewed by Croat and Italian citizens.

After exchanging their findings with other police forces, the investigators found links with previous seizures which led to the identification of the masterminds.

In all, 40 people were arrested in six countries, including two top Croat members of the network, who were arrested at the end of 2023 in Istanbul, police said.

The last four arrests took place on Wednesday in Spain, according to Europol.

In one operation witnessed by an AFP journalist, heavily armed members of Spain’s Guardia Civil arrested a 40-year-old man at dawn at his home near Marbella, a seaside resort popular with drug traffickers.

The smugglers shipped cocaine from South America to logistical hubs in west Africa and the Canary Islands.

The drugs were then sent on to centres in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain for distribution across Europe.

Many of the drug network’s assets, with a total value of several tens of millions of euros, had been seized or frozen, Europol added.

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