The sellers of stolen goods who survive police operations

BarcelonaTwo years ago, in April 2023, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) stopped a van during a routine checkpoint as part of the fight against repeated offending in the Horta-Guinardó district of Barcelona. Inside the vehicle were several objects, some of them valuable, and the driver, hesitant, couldn't pinpoint their origin. This simple coincidence led the police to one of the most active groups involved in receiving stolen goods (which they then resell). According to police sources, the receiving operation is a key figure in understanding multi-recidivismIf thieves don't have anyone to give them the stolen items, they'll be unlikely to continue stealing. That's why law enforcement is focusing its efforts, although, as is often the case in the world of repeated offenders, arresting them isn't always enough to stop them from committing crimes.

The story that began in 2023 continued until February 2024. Then, after a year of investigation, the Mossos d'Esquadra and the National Police exploited the case: they arrested nine people who had managed to create a sophisticated and efficient network. They had earned more than four million euros reselling cell phones, jewelry, and all kinds of objects, mainly in Morocco. They sent the stolen material by parcel post, or even transported it themselves to North Africa. With the profits obtained, they bought a 150,000-euro apartment.

This operation, however, did not stop their criminal activity. Despite being brought before a court, the gang's leaders were already on the streets within a few weeks. Therefore, in October 2024, just nine months after catching them, the National Police officers themselves discovered that the criminal group had resurfaced.

With a modus operandi Similarly, they arranged meetings with thieves to receive the stolen material. They wanted to resell everything. "Imagine breaking into a house and taking everything that could be resold," police sources describe. This is what they found in storage rooms and private homes where the group hid all the merchandise just before taking it to Morocco, hidden in trucks and passenger buses. From cell phones to computers, hair straighteners, shoes, tools, and even boxes of vape pens.

This Tuesday, the National Police made this operation public, with four arrests. According to ARA, it involves the same group they began investigating in April 2023 after searching that van in the Horta-Guinardó district. They moved (as they did in 2023 and 2024) around Montcada i Reixac and Sant Adrià de Besòs, where they had the apartments and storage rooms. The group's main leader has been arrested more than 40 times so far for property crimes.

The criminal problem

As is the case with theft, the penalties for receiving stolen goods (which range from six months to two years in prison) rarely involve actual imprisonment, and in rare cases, there is even provisional deprivation of liberty during the investigation. Therefore, police sources warn of the need to also increase the criminal offenses.

The same sources lament that Barcelona, ​​and especially the Raval neighborhood, is becoming a very important reception point, not only in Catalonia, but also in Spain and Europe. They claim that shipments of cell phones stolen from various locations in Europe arrive in Barcelona to be resold elsewhere, usually in North Africa.