The operation, carried out by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Barcelona Metropolitan Police Region, began after detecting an increase in robberies with the same pattern in parking meter zones across several districts, including Sarrià, Sant Martí, Horta, Eixample, and Nou Barris.
Their modus operandi involved posing as foreigners who did not know how to use the machine to pay for parking. They tricked the victims, always elderly people, asking them to pay with their card in exchange for returning the amount in cash.
“"they provided erroneous license plate numbers to confuse them and appropriate the cards without them noticing."
The detainees, who had no fixed address and stayed itinerantly using rental vehicles, complicated the investigation. Furthermore, one of the arrested individuals had an international arrest warrant issued by Belgium, which is why he has been transferred to the Audiencia Nacional for the extradition process.
The Catalan police charge them with a total of 15 proven criminal acts and are investigating their possible connection to 30 similar cases. The total amount of money stolen through these scams exceeds 16,000 euros.
