A joint operation carried out in Orihuela, by the National Police and the Civil Guard, has put an end to the activities of a violent armed gang of hooded thieves, that had been operating across the Vega Baja since September of last year.
The gang is responsible for over a dozen assaults on occupied homes, where they attacked and intimated ed their victims with guns and with violence as they robbed them of their money and their valuables.
One woman was attacked and held at gunpoint in Rojales for over an hour, with her three daughters aged 2, 4 and 7 years.
Other robberies and attacks took place in Orihuela, Callosa de Segura and Redován.
In the operation, which was carried out by the Almoradí Civil Guard and the Orihuela National Police, five people have been arrested in Orihuela, two of them the leaders of the group, thought to be responsible for the assaults. All of them are currently being held in custody, charged with ten robberies of houses, nine of them with violence and intimidation. They are also charged with four crimes of illegal confinement of their victims, illegal possession of weapons and belonging to a criminal organisation.
The investigations began last September after an increase in violent thefts on occupied homes. The victims reported that the assailants always wore hoods and used firearms and knives to intimidate them in order to obtain money, jewellery and other items of value. If their demands de were refused, the victims were handcuffed and brutally beaten.
A resident of Redován had to receive medical assistance because he suffered serious injuries during an assault when he was hit on the head with the butt of a pistol.
Another victim, a resident of Callosa de Segura, was terrorised by the gang when the barrel of a pistol was thrust into his mouth by one of the robbers while threatening to kill him.
The gang stole 54,000 euros in one of the assaults, several shotguns, more money, jewellery and even a potentially dangerous breed of dog.
Investigators from the National Police and the Civil Guard joined forces for the operation and in response to one of the robberies in Orihuela at the beginning of the month they were able to arrest two assailants despite them offering resistance.
The next day, the Police and the Civil Guard arrested three more people in Orihuela and seized eight kilos of marijuana, ten grams of cocaine, a pistol, a revolver, a pistol pen, an electric weapon, money, a large amount of jewellery and mobile phones.
