The Prosecutor's Officer is calling for sentences totalling 38 years and three months for 21 members of a gang of pickpockets and shoplifters.
In August 2020, the National Police carried out a major operation against a gang which had been present in some form in Mallorca since 2010. On the morning of the 10th, twenty addresses on the island were raided. Officers seized more than 300 stolen items. The police placed an estimate of 12.5 million euros on the gang's activities.
All Romanian, the police established that some of them lived in Mallorca all year and that they were housing others who arrived on the island during the summer tourism season. They were operating in various parts of Mallorca. In Palma, the principal areas were the Cathedral, Bellver Castle, the historic centre and Playa de Palma as well as on EMT buses. Cala Ratjada, Puerto Alcudia, Puerto Soller and Valldemossa were where they mainly operated away from the city.
As well as the sentences, the prosecution will be requesting orders banning all of them from Mallorca for a period of two and a half years. The trial is scheduled for the start of 2024.