Crime in Spain

2024: Spanish police get robot dog that monitors traffic rules

At the end of March 2024, Spanish police adopted a robotic dog that patrols the streets. This robop, among other things, is able to identify violations of traffic rules (SDA). Read more here.

2023

4 arrested for stealing fuel from oil pipeline

The Civil Guard in February 2023 arrested four people for stealing fuel by damaging oil pipelines. A total of 4,400 liters of fuel were stolen, of which 2,300 liters were seized.

The stolen fuel was stored in small warehouses and hidden in trucks before being distributed and sold on the black market. Arrests took place in Utrer (Seville).

In addition, one of the arrested is a salesman of a fuel distribution company in Espera (Cadiz), who is said to have cooperated with a criminal network.

The method of criminals was to dig two meters deep, get to the pipeline, "puncture" it, and then insert a hose with a crane into it. So the stolen fuel flowed until it reached the tanks. Those tanks were on trucks parked nearby.

In addition, the organization leased a farm on the outskirts of Utrera. It was used as a center for logistics operations for the distribution and sale of fuel. And it was there that contact was established with companies that could distribute fuel.

A representative of one of these companies is one of those arrested. When searching the house of one of the suspects, the operatives seized all types of equipment used to drill underground pipes. These include pressure gauges, hoses, perforators, night vision goggles, lights and radar detectors.

Arrest of 1.34 tonnes of cocaine disguised as cocoa

The Gendarmerie (Civil Guard) of Spain seized 1.34 tons of cocaine delivered from Ecuador in bags with the inscription "cocoa," the Spanish Interior Ministry reported in February 2023.

According to the source, the cargo with cocaine was hidden in the farthest corner at the bottom of four containers, where there was real cocoa. The criminal cargo was transported by a merchant ship en route from Guayaquil (Ecuador) to the Spanish port of Barcelona.

During the inquiry, the gendarmes intend to find out who, in fact, and not according to the documents, was the sender, as well as who was actually supposed to take possession of the cargo in Spain.

Albanian robber gang arrest

In January 2023, a gang of robbers from Albania was detained, credited with twenty robberies in homes located in areas with high purchasing power in the mountainous regions of Madrid and Salamanca, Valladolid and Avila.

The criminal group consisted of three men and a woman between the ages of 29 and 31, who had clearly distributed functions when committing robberies, according to the General Directorate of the Civil Guard.

The investigation began in October last year, when an increase in the number of robberies was found in mountainous areas of Madrid. The authors' modus operandi led agents to link them to other attacks recorded in the municipalities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Ávila.

According to the investigation, the criminals entered the plots, broke the locks, got inside the houses, where they tried to take possession of all kinds of values ​ ​ that they found in their path.

Two of the three people in the gang were the ones who hacked and accessed the chalet, while a third man carried out surveillance from the vehicle. The woman, for her part, was responsible for transporting the stolen items to Albania, a country where she came once a month with suitcases full of jewelry and other items left over from the attacks.

At the moment, gang participation has been established in about twenty robberies committed in the Madrid municipalities of Guadarrama, Collado Villalba, Galapagar, Collado Mediano, El Escorial, Las Rosas, Mahadaonda and Rivas Wasiamadrid, as well as in the cities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Avila.

The Civil Guard conducted two searches of the houses of the bandits, in the Madrid city of Leganes and in the metropolitan area of ​ ​ Salamanca, where they seized about 10,000 euros in cash, as well as jewelry and other valuables. The four detainees were placed at the disposal of the judiciary, which ordered their detention pending trial.

Murder of a priest by a Moroccan

In January 2023, in the Spanish town of Algeciras, one person died as a result of a knife attack, four more were injured.

In the evening, the suspect, who was already detained, attacked the priest of the San Ysidro temple (several parishioners helped prevent the murder, but in the process they themselves suffered), and then attacked the minister of the La Palma church.

As it turned out, 25-year-old native of Morocco Yasin Kanza quarreled during the day with a parishioner of the San Ysidro temple, called on her to change her faith, threatened her. And in the evening, after the end of the service, he returned to the church with a machete and attacked the priest. Several people helped protect him, but were injured themselves. Canza then headed to a nearby church, where he tried to destroy the altar. The clergyman who wanted to stop him died.

The police detained the suspect literally a few minutes later. A case was initiated under the article "terrorism." "The facts are being investigated and analyzed, but at the moment it is impossible to determine the nature of the attack," they said. MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Spain

Pretend to be police: Gang who stole drugs from others detained

The joint operation of the National Police and the Civil Guard Spain managed to eliminate the criminal group operating on the coast of Malaga and having a network in Cadiz. This crime gang followed a non-standard criminal path, stealing drugs from other groups. To do this, they used military weapons and during the attacks pretended to be security officers.

The investigation, launched in June 2021, established that the leader of the gang was an immigrant from Eastern Europe who was always armed and had several fake identity cards. He moved frequently and also changed looks.

During Operation Siren 21, agents managed to identify and arrest eight men, including the leader, and two women in the municipalities of Estepona and Mijas. All of them are charged with crimes related to drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization, theft of motor vehicles, forgery and illegal possession of weapons. Six of them, the court has already appointed a preliminary conclusion.

In addition, during the proceedings, the police seized 70 kilograms of hashish, five cars, stolen license plates, several pistols, a large amount of ammunition, fake documents and a number of items imitating police equipment.

Six detained for extortion from seekers of intimate services in Valencia and Alicante

National police officers liquidated a criminal organization in Valencia and Alicante that extorted money from users of sites with intimate services. They posted fraudulent ads online posing as women offering sexual pleasures. Six people were arrested on suspicion of extortion, illegal possession of weapons and membership in a criminal organization.

By January 2023, it was established that the detainees received more than 200,000 euros from the victims of extortion through blackmail. 12 people living in several provinces of the autonomous community of Valencia were recognized as victims.

According to comments from the National Police, users of strawberry sites trying to contact women offering their services by phone actually contacted scammers. Thus, the criminal organization chose the victims of extortion.

A few days later, posing as pimps, the extortionists demanded a certain amount of money for their wasted time and for the inconvenience caused to the girls.

The gang received instant access to the victims' money after the victims succumbed to blackmail and paid on the details indicated by the gang. The criminal organization continued to force them into further payments by intimidation and threatening that sexual adventurers would endanger their lives or the lives of their loved ones if they did not make new payments.

2022

In Malaga, police smashed a British gang sending drugs to their homeland and EU countries

The gang specialized in making false bottoms for shipping containers. The leader of the group is wanted by courts in the United Kingdom and has extensive experience in policing.

Police Spain officers in December 2022 arrested six people who were experts in concealing huge numbers drugs to be sent to other countries, Europe particularly Britain.

They even had a scanner similar to those used by airport security to check if drugs they had hidden in fake shipping container bases would be found somewhere on the way.

Gang members are accused of creating a criminal gang, drug trafficking, forgery and identity theft. One of them had more than €150,000 in cash and fake documents when he was caught.

The group was based in an area in Alaurín de la Torre, where they reportedly modified containers that are used for ship transport to create a false bottom in which drugs could be hidden.

They then took the drug containers to a warehouse in the Guadalorce industrial estate and loaded them into a truck. These containers were then transported by sea to Britain.

During a search of the premises, materials and equipment for making a double bottom in containers were found. There, the criminals kept the scanner.

In total, the Civil Guard seized 900 kg of hashish, more than 40 kg of marijuana buds and 13 vehicles, and closed an indoor marijuana plantation that grew more than 1,700 plants.

The gang's ringleader is reportedly wanted by courts in Britain and has long been tried by police for similar offences.

Fraudsters detained in Spain who lured half a million euros in bitcoin from a businessman from the Russian Federation

The National Police Spain in December 2022 detained eight people who fraudulently lured half a million euros from a Russian businessman. bitcoins This is stated in a distributed press release from the kingdom's law enforcement agencies.

According to them, law enforcement officers stopped the activities in Benidorm (autonomous community of Valencia) of a criminal group that was engaged in fraud. In particular, the suspects posed as members of the Spanish Civil Guard.

The investigation began in January 2022 after a complaint from a Russian entrepreneur. He assured that two people who claimed to be law enforcement officers stopped his car and assured that an arrest warrant was in effect against him at the request of the Russian Federation. Fraudulently, with the help of accomplices, the suspects allegedly lured half a million euros from him in bitcoin.

Arrest of seven members of Albanian group accused of 40 thefts across Spain

In December 2022, the Spanish Civil Guard arrested seven members of an Albanian criminal gang who are behind more than 40 thefts across Spain worth about 800,000 euros of confiscated loot.

Officers found the gang had set up a base for their operations in the town of Gandia in the eastern coastal province of Valencia, from where they carried out looting across the country. For more details see Valencia (province).

Record seizure of 52 tons of marijuana

In November 2022, in the northeastern part Catalonia , police special forces conducted an operation to seize drug dealers and seized more than 52 tons. marijuana This is the largest amount of dangerous potion ever confiscated in the country.

According to Al Jazeera, workers from eight farms who had an official license from the authorities to grow hemp for medical purposes were involved in the crime. But it turned out that local businessmen were harvesting crops to sell drug mafia. The police closed and sealed all production facilities and warehouses. Suspects in the production and sale of drugs were arrested.

In total, the security forces seized 52 tons of marijuana, including 187,000 canabis sprouts and 19 tons of plant buds, from which drugs are industrially produced.

A gang of false brokers deceived 17 thousand Spaniards for 2.4 billion euros on the topic of cryptocurrencies

Main article: Cryptocurrency fraud

A group of fraudsters have long deceived naive citizens in Spain who wanted "easy money" from buying cryptocurrency. The swindlers were uncovered by members of the Spanish Civil Guard.

As noted in a widespread press release from the kingdom's law enforcement agencies, a gang of false brokers earned about 400 euros per minute from the trust of their victims, whom they asked to simply invest in digital currency.

"The number of victims of the group in Spain has exceeded 17 thousand people," the message says in November 2022.

At the same time, according to the police, during their criminal activities, fraudsters managed to steal about 2.4 billion euros from the victims.

According to the Spanish Civil Guard, the deception scheme turned out to be extremely simple - false brokers pretended to be employees of call centers located in Albania, imitating the work of a large financial organization.

The investigation into the activities of the criminal group has been conducted for almost 4 years. At the same time, the first complaint about the fraudsters came back in 2018 from an elderly woman who "gave" the attackers more than 800 thousand euros.

She said that she was contacted by a "finance expert" who offered to make millions of investments in cryptocurrency. The result of such a "business," as is usually the case, turned out to be predictable - the "thieves" installed a special program on the victim's computer that allowed them to access all of her bank accounts.

Liquidation of the network of pirated streaming sites with 500 thousand users

Spanish police in November 2022 announced the liquidation of a network of pirated streaming sites that illegally distributed content from 2,600 TV channels to 500,000 of their users, as well as more than 23,000 films and TV series.

In addition to the Spanish police, Europol took part in this operation, and as a result, four streaming service operators were arrested in Malaga. In addition, law enforcement officers say that they were able to identify 95 resellers of this network in Spain, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Britain.

It is known that this pirate network has existed since 2012 and has long avoided detection, creating more and more shell companies. The network has used numerous sites to advertise and promote its subscription streaming services, promising users unlimited access to TV channels from a wide variety of platforms. Streams from these platforms were deciphered through theft or abuse of other people's accounts, and then relayed to customers of subscribers' video players.

The resellers mentioned above bought subscription packages from pirate network operators and then resold them to thousands of people in their home countries, earning on price differences.

"The profit received, which amounted to about three million euros per year, was laundered through the acquisition of movable and immovable property in the province of Malaga, as well as by transferring funds through Spanish companies to bank accounts located in offshore zones," law enforcement officers write.

During the searches, ten administrative panels were found on the suspects, connected to 32 streaming servers scattered throughout France, Spain and the Netherlands, which hosted the mentioned content. The police turned off these panels, the pirate platform itself, and confiscated computer equipment, 2,800 euros in cash, as well as vehicles with a total value of about 180,000 euros.

The authorities say they will continue to investigate and will try to identify other members of this pirate network in Spain and other countries.

Spanish surrogacy consultant in Kaliningrad sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for child trafficking

A Spanish surrogacy consultant in Kaliningrad was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for trafficking a child. This was reported on November 7, 2022 by the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the Kaliningrad Region. Read more here.

Moroccan mafia activity in Catalonia

Main article: Moroccan Mafia (Mocro Maffia)

During a large-scale joint operation in October 2022, the Dutch and Spanish police, along with the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra, thwarted the Wet Mafia's attempt to settle in Catalonia. For more details, see here.

Police dismantle Albanian gang ferrying migrants to Britain via Spain

Seven smugglers have been arrested by police.

During the joint operation, the Spanish and British authorities made several arrests and liquidated an Albanian gang, whose members specialized in transporting migrants to Britain through Spain.

In October 2022, seven members of the criminal network were detained and about 50 illegal immigrants were identified, although in fact this number could be much higher.

Officials said smugglers were transporting Albanian citizens to Britain via Bilbao and Santander in the north, Spain loading them into lorries and charging between €3,000 and €15,000 for a "service." They then travelled on ferries to Portsmouth, Southampton and Liverpool.

Two criminals were arrested in Madrid, five more in the Basque Country. Among them, according to officers, are two gang leaders. They will now face trial for smuggling people in Spain.

During searches of the property of the criminals, several mobile phones and computers were seized, as well as bank cards, identity documents and several passports.

Liquidation of the underground printing house of counterfeiters

In October 2022, counterfeit banknotes of 500 euros worth more than 4 million euros were seized in Spain.

The clandestine printing house produced some of the most sophisticated euro fakes found in the EU.

Europol conducted a joint operation with the Spanish National Police to eliminate an organized criminal group involved in the printing and distribution of counterfeit €500 banknotes.

The operation also involved the Bank of Spain investigation team, auxiliary units of the Spanish judiciary and riot control units.

During the operation, an underground printing house was liquidated and 12 people were arrested. 9 locations in Alicante, Barcelona, ​ ​ Malaga and Valencia were searched. Counterfeit 500 euro banknotes worth 4.3 million euros and a large amount of equipment were seized - several printing presses, an insulation machine, a hot embossing machine, a guillotine for paper and raw materials.

Counterfeiters have used cutting-edge technology to produce some of the most sophisticated counterfeits found in the EU.

Sexual harassment of British tourists is the main problem of Spanish resorts

Calvia in Mallorca has become a resort with a record number of complaints of sexual harassment in Spain, as of September 2022. Sociologist Alejandro Mikel Novaira is confident that it is endless parties with libations and prohibited substances that provoke attacks on tourists. "A person comes to rest, believing that for one to two weeks he can do whatever he wants. Something that would not allow itself at home. "

The number of reported cases of such crimes is high in Magaluf and in other popular areas, for example, in San Antonio on Ivis.

At the same time, Magaluf is trying to change his reputation and target the family audience, getting rid of the notoriety. Novaira added that resorts, where many Britons come, suffered the most from the actions of rapists. The expert suggested that the staff of nightclubs and other evening establishments could undergo additional training.

Europe's largest confiscation of counterfeit products of elite brands worth 300 million euros

In September 2022, the National Police Spain , as part of a joint operation with the Customs Supervision of the Tax Office, seized more than five tons of counterfeit products of elite brands from a trading network operating in the Canary Islands.

As a result of the operation, 17 arrests were made, searches at 14 bazaars, four warehouses and three houses, and €70,000 in cash and three cars were confiscated.

The seized items, according to specialized experts, could cost more than 300 million euros.

The investigation began after police discovered the existence of several shops on the island of Tenerife, allegedly selling counterfeit goods, which had a common distributor based in the province of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, specifically in Fuerteventura, which formed the head of the criminal structure engaged in the sale and distribution of counterfeit products.

The organization purchased counterfeit material mainly in the industrial area of ​ ​ Cobo Calleja in Madrid and sold its products mainly in tourist areas, taking advantage of the presence of a large population with a short period of residence in the country.

The operation was initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Unit of the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife National Police Station.

The division became aware of the existence of a wholesale point of sale for counterfeit leather goods in southern Tenerife.

As a result of the monitoring work, the person responsible for this room was identified, selling goods to various persons, both for street sale and for sale at bazaars.

The operation was then joined by the Customs Supervision Service, which established that there were many goods at customs in the name of the person responsible for distribution on Fuerteventura, and began to carefully monitor its activities.

From Fuerteventura, the chain leader shipped goods to other points on the island and Tenerife, where his contact person distributed and sold them through his businesses.

The investigation was brought to the attention of Arona's Juzgado de Instrucción No. 4 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is investigating the case. The DJANGO police operation ended with the liquidation of the criminal organization.

One of Belgium's most wanted criminals arrested in Spain

In September 2022, national police officers in the municipality of Malaga Mihas arrested one of the most wanted criminals in Belgium.

There was a valid European Arrest and Extradition Warrant (OEDE) in the name of the 40-year-old offender. He was extradited by the Belgian authorities for a crime related to drug trafficking, as well as for belonging to a criminal organization.

After being sentenced to eight years in prison, the detainee fled to Spain to avoid prison. He was listed on the Enfast network as one of the most wanted fugitives.

Presumably, he participated in the management of a business network engaged in the transportation of goods and people. This network is suspected of distributing narcotic substances, including cocaine and heroin, to different countries of Europe.

In 2011, he was suspected of transporting 172.80 kg of cocaine. Later, in 2013, he was convicted of belonging to a criminal organization that transported more than 1000 kilograms of heroin. This person took security measures to avoid being found, up to the use of false documents.

British mafia gang detained for Spain's biggest ever shipment of pink cocaine

The highly organised and dangerous British drug traffickers were based in Ibiza.

In August 2022, several Britons were arrested on the Balearic island of Ibiza in connection with the largest confiscation of pink cocaine in Spain, also known as 2CB, a highly addictive synthetic drug.

After raids on houses on August 29, twelve people and 13 kilograms of the deadly narcotic substance and a large number of other drugs with an estimated value of 2.3 million euros were arrested in the cities of San Josepde Sa Talaya, San Antonio de Portmani, Es Cubels and Ibiza itself.

According to official sources, this is the largest amount of this substance discovered to date by the Civil Guard after the seizure in 2021 of 11 kilograms from a Dutch citizen allegedly associated with the Turkish mafia.

Most of the detainees were citizens Britain living in the Balearic Islands.

As well as pink cocaine, 12 sites where the searches were carried out were found to contain a submachine gun, three handguns, about half a million euros in cash, 16.4kg of cocaine, 5.6kg of ketamine, 87,000 tablets and 10 high-end vehicles.

Operation Fora Via, carried out jointly with the British NCA and Europol, began at the tip of the Colombian authorities, where members of the criminal group allegedly went for direct negotiations with local drug lords. Two women were also arrested here, one from the United States and the other from Colombia.

Investigators in Spain consider the gang "extremely violent," and while further arrests are not ruled out, the chief colonel of the Balearic Civil Guard, Alejandro Hernandez, has already expressed satisfaction with the operation's success.

2021: Low number of premeditated murders

and

2017: Leader country in Europe in drug seizure

Half of all drugs found in 2017 are in two countries: Spain and Turkey. Through the first goes all hashish, and through the second all Asian substances, such as heroin, methamphetamine and so on. In 2017, more substances were seized than at any time in the previous 5 years.

2015:468 unsolved murders over 25 years

Between 1990 and 2015, Spanish police failed to solve at least 468 murders, the ABC newspaper reported. At first glance, this figure seems quite significant, however, the number of crimes whose authors were discovered is about 80%.

Relevant data were obtained by the already disbanded Brigade of Analysis and Revision of Data. For the first time, her report collected information about all unsolved murders over the above period of time. The leader in their number was Madrid with an indicator of 214 cases. The second place by a significant margin is occupied by Catalonia (85). It is followed by East Andalusia (33) and Valencia (29). As for the cities, Madrid again took first place (183). It is followed by Barcelona (52), Valencia (19) and Malaga (9).

Curiously, some law enforcement agencies do not have special databases that contain information about unsolved crimes. In other cases, archives were lost when the location of a department was changed. Thus, the Supreme Police Department of Catalonia warns that the commissariat of the city of Cornella de Llobregat could lose documents in connection with the closure of several sites in the Bash Llobregat area. In addition, in several cases, requests for the start of the investigation are not recorded in the databases of the intelligence services, therefore, the relevant cases do not appear in the sections "Crimes," "Investigations" or "Archive." The case of the Supreme Police Directorate of the Basque Country, which reported 74 cases of unsolved murders, deserves special attention. 52 of them belong to the jurisdiction of autonomous law enforcement agencies Ertzaintza, and another 5 to the jurisdiction of the Civil Guard. 22 killings were carried out by ETA terrorists. None of these crimes were included in the above statistics. In addition, serial killings in statistics are counted as individual cases.

2013: Number of criminal offences decreased by 2%

According to the annual report of the Attorney General published in September 2014, the number of criminal offenses in Spain in 2013 decreased by 2% compared to the data for 2012. This is especially true for murders, the number of which decreased by 10% in 2013.

In 2013, Spain's courts heard a total of 4,036,984 cases. Most often, cases involved private property (66% of cases), followed by crimes against life and physical integrity (22%)^[1] by^[1]

The number of bereavement cases fell by 10% (1,176 murder cases against 1,307 cases in 2012), while physical integrity cases increased by 3% - this year there were 722,195 cases opened against 700,126 in 2012.

As for the latter, the number of intentional crimes against immunity (644,063) increased by 1%, and unintentional (125,907) increased by 7%.

The report explains that premeditated killings are mainly related to fights and quarrels, domestic violence. People often inflict various injuries on each other after using alcohol and drugs in places of entertainment.

1988: Lifting the ban on public nudity

The ban on public nudity in Spain was lifted in 1988, since then everyone who decides has the right to walk naked in any public place without risking detention. However, a number of autonomies, such as Valladolid and Barcelona, ​ ​ have passed laws that regulate nudism.

In February 2023, the Supreme Court of Spain upheld the right of men to walk naked in the streets and announced the verdict in defense of Alejandro Colomar (29 years old), for walking naked in the streets. The walks ended with an attempt to enter the courtroom in which the mother gave birth.

In the legal field of Spain, there is a so-called "legal vacuum" regarding nudity in public places, as the court was forced to state. Senor Colomar appeared before the judges, being only shod, but not dressed. He defended in court the position that punishment for walking naked infringe on his freedom to manifest ideological beliefs.

'The fine and other punishments don't make any sense. I was accused of exhibitionism and misbehavior in a public place. Exhibitionism involves sexual assault, that is, the disposition of this article cannot be tied to my behavior, "the defendant said.

1972: Sentence of 384,912 years in prison for destroyed letters

The longest prison sentence was received in 1972 by a postman from Spain - Gabriel March Grandos. He was sentenced to 384,912 years in prison, thus entering the Guinness Book of Records. During his time at the post office, Grandos destroyed 42,768 letters.

Why? Because I didn't want to deliver them. Local legislation provides for the deliberate damage of documents punishment in the form of 9 years in prison. That's how much Grandos was given for every letter he didn't deliver to the address.

Prisons

Picassent Prison

• Picassent Prison (Valencia)

2022: Drones deliver banned items to prisons

In November 2022, Spain is concerned about the increasing incidence of attempts to use drones to deliver contraband to prisons. We thought about these methods after another attempt to deliver prohibited items to prison. If before it was a great rarity, now the number of cases is already in the tens. In 2022, 37 such cases were already registered. And the leadership of the penitentiary institutions thought about how to deal with this. It is proposed to install anti-drone systems, writes El Mundo. It is true that they will be one of themselves, it is not yet known.

There are several ways to prevent UAVs from entering the protected area. It is possible to use, for example, electronic warfare means, however, they are mainly used by the military. Corresponding developments are underway in many countries, but they have one essence - to suppress the connection between the device and the control unit. There are also interceptor drones using nets and even flamethrowers to combat intruders. Of the very exotic ways, the use of specially trained eagles can be called. This method was invented several years ago in the Netherlands.

2019: The minimum age for children to be jailed is 14

2018: Number of prisoners

Death penalty

See also

• Spain
• Economy in Spain
• Terrorism in Spain
• Crime in Russia

Notes