A gang of thieves who stole jewelry and watches from 35 elderly people with the "loving hug" method falls
A joint operation between the Police and the Mossos have made it possible to dismantle an itinerant criminal gang dedicated to the theft of high-end watches and jewelery using the “loving embrace” method in Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Huesca and Calatayud. The band began to perform in July 2021 in Zaragoza, for a short period of time, and then they reappeared in April 2022 and moved throughout the peninsula.. There are 16 detainees from the same family clan who carried out these robberies by the hugging method and another three who used “scalping”, stealing money from someone who takes out from an ATM by distracting him.
Last December, agents arrested 12 people in the Yapeyú-Amusca operation.. The gang operated through cells distributed throughout Spain, having its main bases of action in the provinces of Barcelona, Valencia and Murcia, from which they were distributed functionally and territorially and exchanged, in turn, among the components of the groups to avoid be discovered. The agents identified the suspects and carried out 7 simultaneous searches in Barcelona, Badalona, Cerdanyola del Vallés and Valencia, finding a large amount of false documentation, stolen jewelry, cash and around thirty mobile phones that were exchanged between the members of the organization. .
The Police and the Mossos attribute 35 robberies to these 12 people, 26 in Zaragoza, 6 in Barcelona and 4 in Valencia. In addition, three others accused of stealing using the “scalping” technique were arrested in the operation.. The “loving hug” consists of one or two women approaching people, generally the elderly, who they embrace, claiming to be a neighborhood or family acquaintance, in order to steal the watches or jewelry they are wearing.. After appropriating the jewels, the suspects flee in a vehicle, driven by a third person who was waiting for them nearby.
The 'scalping' is also to rob elderly people while operating at ATMs. They stand next to him and look at his safety pin.. Then they distract them to take away their card and make withdrawals at other banks. The three arrested suspects are accused of 7 robberies by this method.
Thanks to the false documentation obtained in the records, the agents were able to arrest four other alleged members of the group in Barcelona and clarify robberies in Zaragoza, Huesca and Calatayud by finding stolen objects. The Police have also received more complaints from victims, so after two years of investigation they consider this gang dismantled, since most of its members went to prison. Most are accused of the crimes of robbery with violence, theft, belonging to a criminal organization, document falsification, money laundering and sexual assault. The value of what was stolen in the city of Zaragoza exceeds 250,000 euros.