Nine people, all of foreign nationality, were arrested this Monday by the GNR of Faro, who thus managed to dismantle a gang that was dedicated to robbing stores and gas stations throughout the Algarve region.
According to Antena's Portugal em Direto program1, the network had been under investigation for some time and, this morning, the police's work paid off: six men were located at 3:00 am, as they were preparing to assault the CEPSA post in EN125, in Ferreiras, municipality of Albufeira, using two vehicles.
One of the vehicles, with its occupants, managed to flee the site, but was eventually intercepted by the authorities shortly after, and its two occupants were arrested, while another was caught in Esteval, municipality of Faro, where three more individuals were detained.
On the run, the robbers got rid of objects that could incriminate them, throwing them onto the road, namely crowbars and other tools they used for burglaries.
After this morning's robbery, the GNR searched nine homes and several vehicles in the Vale das Almas area, near the airport of Faro, and elsewhere in the municipality of Loulé, during which he detained the other two suspects.
In these searches, the authorities also recovered material from the thefts, including pieces of jewelry and watches, laptop computers and LCD. Some of this material has already been associated with crimes that have taken place before.
The gang, made up of foreigners of Romanian and Moldovan nationality, had been engaged for months in thefts at gas stations, shops and warehouses, where they broke into safes.
In total, the GNR detained nine people – eight men and one woman – aged between 28 and 48, eight of Romanian nationality, and one of Moldovan nationality, who were part of the criminal network. Among the detainees is a Romanian woman who, according to authorities, was in possession of a defense aerosol.
At the time of the arrests, the individuals resisted, with two of them suffering injuries, requiring hospital assistance.
The GNR Command of Faro highlights “the organization among the various elements and the care with which they planned and executed crimes”.
The GNR operation had the support of elements of the Special Operations Intervention Group coming from Lisbon.
The detainees will be present at the Court of Faro for enforcement of enforcement measures, tomorrow, March 6th.
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