The Torrevieja Civil Guard has arrested four men, three of Moroccan nationality, aged 20, 38 and 42 year and a 20 year old Romanian, as alleged perpetrators of seven ongoing crimes of robbery with force, three crimes of theft, one crime of receiving stolen goods and a crime of belonging to a criminal group.

The gang specialised in the theft of high end bikes, forcing entry into 62 buildings, storage rooms, garages and homes.

The Guardia says that they have managed to recover 79 bicycles, 5 bicycle frames and 3 cyclist helmets, valued at around 40,000 euros.

The group had well-defined functions, the two younger members jumping fences, walls and forcing doors and padlocks with extreme speed and skill, whilst the other two men dismantled the bicycles with specialised tools and then sold them.

They are said to have stolen over a hundred bicycles in total with many already sold on.

Although the Civil Guard managed to identify them they say that it was very difficult to stop the thefts and recover the stolen objects as the members constantly changed their address, and even stayed at friends’ houses so they were extremely difficult to keep track of.

They say that they do not rule out further complaints as some of the houses from which they stole are second homes and the owners have not yet filed a complaint.

Currently two of the men have been detained in prison whilst the other two have been released on bail.