Criminal Network Dismantled for Reassembling Wrecked Cars with Stolen Parts in Spain

The National Police have dismantled a network in La Nucía that, according to investigators, had converted a villa in a residential area into a sterile and airtight workshop where stolen cars from the province of Alicante were dismantled to mount their parts onto vehicles wrecked during the Valencia storm. The operation resulted in the arrest of three alleged members of the network, accused of vehicle theft, document forgery, and belonging to a criminal group.

Initial evidence collected by the officers pointed to a well-oiled network with an emerging division of roles: one branch was responsible for stealing mid-to-high-end vehicles in various municipalities of Alicante, while the other located cars declared total losses by the storm that devastated several municipalities in Valencia. This dual circuit, underlying and perfectly assembled, allowed them to reassemble 'legal' vehicles capable of going unnoticed in the second-hand market, even abroad.

Investigations reveal that network members bought from individuals, in cash, cars rendered useless by the terrible storm that left 230 dead. They then sought an identical model to steal in the province, let it 'cool down' for a few days, and finally transported it to the villa in La Nucía.

There, in an almost surgical process, the stolen vehicle was completely dismantled, and its components were transplanted onto the chassis of the car wrecked by the storm. The result: a reconstructed car, with legitimate administrative identity, but assembled with illicit parts.

Discreet surveillance eventually paid off. After several days of observing seemingly mundane movements, officers confirmed the use of the property as a covert workshop and coordinated an entry and search.

What they found there seemed taken from a specialised logistics plant: a key cloning kit, tracking systems to mark vehicles they planned to steal, ECU reprogramming tools, dozens of keys, and a slew of counterfeit documentation of the target brand.

Inside, two high-end vehicles recently stolen in El Campello and Elche were also recovered. One had already received a 'clean' German identity, while the other was in the process of having its identifying elements replaced. Officers also seized the detainees' cars. All had illicit parts assembled with a finish that sought to subvert any traceability.

The National Police consider that we are dealing with a structure that operated with apparent mildness but with a strict plan, capable of exploiting the plethora of vehicles damaged by the storm to feed a clandestine circuit difficult to trace.

The vast documentation seized keeps the investigation open, and further arrests are not ruled out. According to the officers in charge of the case, examining this material will shed light on other possible manipulated vehicles and the true scale of the business.