Taken down: a 'mini-army' of thieves who raided luxury Costa de Sol villas with extreme violence

They formed, in the words of the magistrate, a "mini-army" of thieves who demonstrated military training in the execution of each robbery. They reconnoitred the area, planned the robbery and all escape routes, and never, ever carried their mobile phones with them when carrying out the robberies.

To communicate with each other they used modern, hands-free walkie-talkies to avoid being detected on the mobile network during these raids on luxury villas, which always took place between 9pm and midnight when the occupants were at home.

Perhaps the main thing that characterised their modus operandi was the use of extreme violence. The gang members, thieves of Albanian origin who posed as police officers, would tie up and gag their victims, beat them and even threaten to amputate their fingers.

After a very complex investigation that lasted for a year, Guardia Civil officers from Algeciras command have managed to dismantle this organised gang with the arrest of six of its alleged members, according to SUR.

Investigators attribute to them more than ten robberies of mansions and luxury villas in Estepona, Benahavís and Sotogrande, which is why the operation began in Cadiz province and was overseen by the head of San Roque magistrate's court number 1.

Robberies were also attributed to them in Lucena and Puente Genil (Cordoba), as well as in Requena (Valencia), which shows the extraordinary geographical mobility of the gang. They used show apartments and stolen luxury cars - they had a predilection for Porsches - with duplicated number plates to make it difficult for the police to follow them.

The offences investigated in the Guardia Civil's operation extend from the beginning of 2024 to the first days of 2025, when they were arrested in a surprise raid on the house out in the countryside where they were hiding near the Seville town of Marchena.

The last of these robberies, committed in the province of Malaga, was added to the case practically on the spot, as the arresting officers became aware of the crime at the same time as they detained the alleged perpetrators. In fact, in their 'safe house' in Seville were found many of the effects - luxury items - allegedly stolen from the Malaga home invasion, as well as some 70,000 euros, albeit in different currencies.

The modus operandi was the same in most of the assaults investigated. Between three and five hooded men would raid the houses shouting "police" with handguns or submachine guns. After immobilising the occupants, they would search the houses with certain items clearly in their sights: watches, jewellery and any money in the safe. In one mansion on the Costa del Sol they seized a haul approaching two million euros.

According to the sources consulted, they did not hesitate to use violence to obtain as much loot as possible. One of the victims was strangled with a cable until she choked and her underage son was even beaten to get him to give them the code to open the safe. Another woman was dragged by the hair and kicked and punched in the presence of her three children.

When leaving, the offenders would lock all the victims in one room, cut off the electricity so that they could not leave and throw their mobile phones into the swimming pools to ensure they had enough time to flee before the police were alerted.