The gang dismantled by the police emptied seven safes in a villa in Vistahermosa and robbed a man who was going to buy cryptocurrencies.

Alicante police vehicle next to a van stolen in France that was seized during the operation. / DELGADO

P. Cerrada 10 AUG 2025 – 6:00 a.m.

At least seven people have been arrested by the National Police in an operation against a criminal group involved in a robbery in Benidorm, where they stole €60,000 from a resident of Elche who was going to buy cryptocurrencies and ended up tied up and without his money, and in another burglary committed in a villa in Vistahermosa, Alicante,

where they broke into seven safes and stole more than €12,000 in cash, jewelry, and a pistol.

The seven arrests took place in Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, and Elche. The operation remains open to capture other suspects and clarify other robberies that the dismantled gang may have committed, according to sources close to the investigation.

Investigators carried out searches in the aforementioned cities and also in a house in Sant Joan d’Alacant, where a man sought for arrest was not found. During these searches, they seized more than €11,000 in cash, a pistol with a silencer, several simulated handguns and rifles, various pieces of jewelry, at least two vehicles stolen in France and Castalla, numerous tools, forged documents, and nearly a kilo of cocaine — about 700 grams — which had been stolen, according to the confession of one of the detainees to the officers inspecting his home.

The National Police released two women after they appeared at police facilities, while the other five detainees — two of them represented by lawyer Alba Herranz from the law firm of Francisco Miguel Galiana Botella, and by lawyer Aitor Esteban Gallastegui — were brought before the court a week ago. The Court of Instruction No. 3 of Benidorm, acting as duty court, received these five detainees and ordered provisional detention without bail for four of them, according to sources from the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of the Valencian Community.

For the fifth detainee, the court ordered release with precautionary measures: passport withdrawal, prohibition from leaving national territory, and periodic appearances before the court, according to TSJ information.

The same TSJ sources indicated that the case remains open for the crimes of robbery with violence and participation in a criminal group.

Additionally, two of the detainees who were remanded in custody were also brought before Court of Instruction No. 4 of Alicante, where they have an open case for another violent robbery, according to the same sources. Depending on the degree of involvement of each

suspect, the police are charging them with crimes of robbery with violence, illegal detention, burglary, drug trafficking, road safety offenses, forgery of documents, and membership in a criminal group.

Joint operation

The operation was carried out jointly by agents from the Specialized Crime Group of the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of Alicante and Group IV of the Specialized and Violent Crime Unit (UDEV) of the Benidorm Police Station.

Both groups were separately investigating a burglary in a villa in Alicante and a violent robbery in offices in Benidorm, and their investigations pointed to the same suspects: a group of citizens from Russia, Ukraine, and Bulgaria, many of whom already had criminal records for similar offenses.

The most striking assault occurred in a business in Benidorm run by a Russian man dedicated to cryptocurrency trading, who was also arrested for collaborating in the scheme to rob one of his clients. The robbery occurred late in the morning on June 6, when the victim, a resident of Elche, arrived with €60,000 in cash to buy cryptocurrencies.

The wife of the business owner, who was also detained, tried to pretend to the National Police that her husband had been kidnapped. When patrols arrived at the scene, the man told them that three individuals had assaulted the Elche resident he was meeting and had stolen the money before fleeing.

The police investigation revealed that the business owner and his wife had allegedly collaborated in planning to steal the €60,000 from the Elche resident and discovered that a total of nine people had participated directly or indirectly in the events.

The two vehicles stolen in Castalla and France that police recovered during the operation. / DELGADO

Part of the group involved in the Benidorm robbery was also implicated by police in a burglary committed on April 12 in a villa in Vistahermosa, Alicante, where a Chinese family lives.

This burglary was also premeditated: the perpetrators took advantage of the owner’s trip to China. When the wife left the house to go into Alicante, they entered and broke into seven safes located in various rooms — some installed in places known only to the couple and some workers who had carried out renovations.

To ensure the woman didn’t return too soon, they followed her and, after she parked in Alicante, punctured or deflated two of her car’s tires so she would have to call a tow truck and be delayed. When the victim returned home, she discovered that around €12,500, a licensed pistol, and various pieces of jewelry had been stolen.

Two of the vehicles seized from the detainees were a van listed as stolen in France and a BMW X5 with cloned license plates, stolen in December 2024 in Castalla, which was used by the gang for their criminal activities.