The Guardia Civil has dismantled a criminal group made up of eleven people based in San Javier (Murcia) that was dedicated to the theft of jewellery from homes for its subsequent illicit marketing in gold buying and selling establishments, according to sources from the Benemérita in a statement.
The investigation, part of the ‘Stargold’ operation, has led to the arrest of eleven members of the criminal group, one of them a minor, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of robbery with force, theft, misappropriation, fraud, false documentation and receiving.
In addition, twenty crimes have been cleared up and a large quantity of jewellery pieces, worth around 35,000 euros, have been recovered and returned to their legitimate owners.
The operation was opened last year by members of the Armed Institute’s Citizen Security Prevention Department to investigate a series of irregularities detected following the inspection and control of precious metals in gold buying and selling establishments in San Javier.
– GUARDIA CIVIL
The detailed monitoring of all the transactions in these shops, where pieces of jewellery are sold or pawned, and their subsequent analysis, led the investigators to a group of people who were allegedly stealing jewellery for sale.
The main objective was to illicitly profit from the sale of jewellery that had previously been stolen from homes through robbery, theft or misappropriation.
One of the processes in which the criminal group was most vulnerable was the sale of the jewellery. To avoid detection, they masked and mixed pieces from different robberies or used third parties, even family members, to carry out the sale process.
As a result of the police work of the search, inspection and control of these objects, considered precious metals by the regulations governing them, subject to control from their sale to their smelting, the Civil Guards have recovered numerous pieces of jewellery with a value of around 35,000 euros.
The investigations carried out by the Benemérita have made it possible to identify the members of the criminal group behind the thefts and to clarify several offences of swindling gold buying and selling establishments in San Javier, by using deception in the sale as pieces of their property when they were stolen from other people.
Once all the necessary evidence had been obtained, the Guardia Civil set up a search operation for the eleven members of the criminal group, which has recently culminated in their location and arrest as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of robbery, theft, misappropriation, fraud, false documentation and receiving.
The analysis of the information obtained during the investigation has so far led to the clarification of around twenty criminal acts, although the investigation remains open, as it is not ruled out that those arrested are behind the perpetration of more crimes, nor that there are other people involved in the events.
The detainees, the effects seized and the proceedings have been placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction of San Javier and the Prosecutor’s Office for Minors in Murcia.