PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 08/03/2023

ARCHIVED - Notorious Gas Station Gang taken down in Torre Pacheco

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The gang was responsible for more than 50 assaults on homes, service stations and stores in the Murcia Region

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Notorious Gas Station Gang taken down in Torre Pacheco

After more than three months terrorising residents and businesses across the Region of Murcia, the so-called ‘Gas Station Gang’ has been taken down with at least 11 arrests in Torre Pacheco. Around 100 officers rained down on the districts of Roldán and Lo Ferro in the early hours of Tuesday morning, March 7, in a spectacular macro-operation that swept through fifteen buildings.

"It was about time they were caught," one local commented as she watched in awe as officers stormed the streets.

Operating since mid-December, the Gas Station Gang has become the most notorious criminal group of recent years. Their prolific thieving began in shops and petrol stations in the Campo de Cartagena late last year and the gang quickly evolved, targeting around 50 homes and businesses in all.

Service stations, supermarkets and pharmacies in the municipalities of Los Alcázares, Torre Pacheco and San Javier began to take the heat from January onwards, and the highly-organised criminals weren’t above using firearms and knives, violence and intimidation, to get their hands on cash and other valuables.

Sources close to the investigation have revealed that, after their success on robbing businesses, the Gas Station Gang set their sights on homes in Cartagena, San Javier, Torre Pacheco and Fuente Álamo in the last few weeks.

Their reign of terror was brought to an end by a coordinated operation that began just after dawn on Tuesday and saw officers raid several houses on Calle Santa Teresa, Calle Murillo and premises in the surrounding areas of Roldán and Lo Ferro. In addition to the 11 arrests, the Guardia Civil seized radios and other tools used in the burglaries as well as numerous items reported stolen, such as electrical appliances, scooters and TVs.

The investigation into the Gas Station Gang remains open and the team has not ruled out further arrests in the coming days.

In other news: Murcia motorist clocked speeding at almost 140km per hour in 50km zone

Image: Guardia Civil

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)