At the beginning of 2025, Spanish and Italian law enforcement carried out a large-scale operation that led to the neutralization of a group specializing in the theft of premium cars. The gang members did not simply steal vehicles—they meticulously prepared for each case, using scientific methods and modern gadgets to disguise the stolen cars.
The criminals’ arsenal included special signal-blocking fabrics and powerful electronic devices that interfered with GPS trackers. Thanks to these tricks, owners had no time to notice the theft, while police quickly lost the trail. Vehicles, each worth at least 170,000 euros, would disappear in just a few hours. Some models with extra features were valued at amounts comparable to the price of a small apartment.
The gang’s area of operation stretched from sunny Marbella to prestigious resorts in northern Italy. In Spain, the perpetrators spent weeks scouting for suitable vehicles in parking lots at golf clubs, shopping centers, and upscale residential complexes. After being stolen, the cars were taken to secluded hangars in sparsely populated areas of Málaga province, where they were carefully hidden from any attempts at detection.
Inside these hideouts, surveillance cameras were installed, and there were virtually no neighbors nearby. Even experienced investigators were surprised to discover a whole arsenal of signal-jamming devices used to isolate the vehicles from the outside world. The average value of the stolen cars exceeded 240,000 euros, with some units valued at nearly 300,000.
Once several cars had accumulated in the hangar, the group members would return to their respective countries—some to Italy, others to Russia or Romania. After some time, they would travel back to Spain to prepare the documents and alter the vehicle identification numbers. The cars were then driven across Europe to the port of Antwerp, from where they were shipped to the UAE. All transactions among the participants were carried out exclusively in cryptocurrency, making it difficult to trace the financial flows.
As a result of the joint operation, nine people were detained, and the police returned 90 cars to their owners, with a total value of about 18 million euros. Each gang member was responsible for a specific part of the process—from theft and disguising the vehicles to forging documents and handling logistics. This story has become one of the most high-profile cases in Spain’s criminal chronicle in recent years.
