The police operation, which began on May 10, concluded with the arrest of the four individuals. They are charged with numerous crimes, including the theft of catalytic converters, license plates, and document forgery.
According to information from the Directorate General of the Civil Guard, the investigation commenced after receiving complaints from several victims whose car catalytic converters had been stolen in twenty municipalities in the eastern part of the Madrid region.
The gang's method involved using vehicles with stolen license plates. After selecting cars parked on public streets, they would quickly extract the catalytic converters, which they later sold on the second-hand market for their precious metal content, such as palladium, rhodium, and platinum.
To hinder identification, the perpetrators concealed their faces with caps and masks, and wore long-sleeved clothing to avoid revealing tattoos that could aid in their identification.
Over a two-month period, they managed to steal a total of 76 catalytic converters. The arrested individuals face charges for 76 counts of damage, nine counts of license plate theft, nine counts of document forgery, one count of vehicle theft or unauthorized use, one count of theft with force, and one count of belonging to a criminal group.
