International luxury car theft gang broken up Madrid, Alicante and Málaga

Guardia Civil have broken up an international network specialists in the theft of luxury top of the range cars. 19 people have been arrested in the provinces of Madrid, Alicante and Málaga, and at least a dozen properties have been searched.
Spanish police say the group was one of the most active in Europe and could have carried out vehicle thefts in as many as ten provinces. Codenamed ‘Operación Lujo’, the nationalities of those arrested are Spanish, Bulgarian, and Peruvian.GUARDIA CIVIL have arrested 22 people in connection with the theft of luxury cars on the Costa Blanca and all over Spain.Operation ‘Lujo’ was set up at the end of 2007 after police identified a pattern in the number of luxury cars being stolen.
They centred their investigations on Alicante, Madrid and Málaga and this led to the identification of a number of individuals.A police spokesman said that the gang was divided into three groups, each with its own responsibilities. The first group would identify the cars to be stolen, they were followed by specialist car thieves who used electronic devices to record central locking codes on the target vehicles and neutralise their alarm systems.Once the vehicles had been stolen the third group produced false documentation for the cars, which included changing the number plates and altering chassis number details.Of the 22 people detained, 16 are Bulgarian, five are Spanish and one is a Peruvian.Two of the arrests were made in Alicante and Polop de la Marina and police recovered 83 stolen vehicles in searches of properties in Alicante, Madrid and Málaga.All 22 detainees have been remanded in custody while the police investigation continues.