Police smash gang that posed as cops and robbed Chinese business owners at gunpoint

Guardia Civil and National Police officers have arrested four individuals in relation to their alleged involvement in armed robberies, particularly targeting Chinese business owners in Malaga and Seville provinces. Two other people are under investigation.

The criminals would approach their targets by presenting themselves as police officers, always at business closing times, as the owners of the establishments would usually be carrying bags of cash with them. The perpetrators would often use violence to achieve their goal.

Within the framework of Operation Haipa-Ballesta, investigators have been working to identify and locate the perpetrators since mid-September 2024, when two business owners of Chinese nationality were approached in Mijas by four men who identified themselves as police officers. They then stole a bag in which the victims were carrying 55,000 euros in cash, reportedly using violence and causing them minor injuries.

The perpetrators fled, but the victims managed to catch up with them on Camino Viejo de Coín. The offenders rammed the victims' vehicle, causing an accident. Subsequently, police officers found the car of the assailants some 500 metres away.

The gang's next hit was in Seville. On 19 February, four hooded men, wielding small arms, approached their targets in a car park in the city. The suspects managed to get their hands on a bag containing 900 grams of gold after spraying the victims with pepper spray.

As the separate investigations proceeded, the Guardia Civil and the National Police forces discovered that they involved the same gang. The members had adopted all kinds of security measures in their robberies to avoid being discovered. In addition, they used stolen vehicles or vehicles with covered licence plates.

In the final phase of the operation, six searches were carried out in the homes of the members and in two commercial establishments run by them in the towns of Dos Hermanas, Utrera and San Juan de Aznalfarache, all in the province of Seville. As a result, 19,365 euros, eight mobile phones, two sets of shackles, a torch with the National Police emblem, a police badge holder and a rubber police defence device were seized. The investigators also found a short compressed gas weapon, a can of self-defence spray and a tracking device, among other items.

Four people have been arrested and two others are under investigation for the crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, robbery with violence and intimidation, theft and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, impersonation of public officials, assault and document forgery.