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They carried out as many as 13 attacks on pharmacies along the Costa del Sol in just three months. Hooded and equipped with tools presumably stolen from two fire stations, the suspects would force doors or break windows to escape with the stolen cash register. After that, they would flee in one of the two cars, which were on the police's radar, and hide the loot. Until the next attempt.
The police had been on their trail since February, when they carried out the first robbery of a chemist's shop, according to various sources consulted by SUR. However, it was not until a few weeks later that concern spread among the pharmacy trade: in just one week, four establishments were robbed. Three in Malaga city (Puerto de la Torre, Carretera de Cádiz and Churriana) and another in Marbella (San Pedro Alcántara).
The Churriana robbery was the last in that particular week. It was at 4.30am on 6 May, when the owner approached the shop and found a scene similar to the ones observed in the other pharmacies: the glass had been smashed and there was no trace of the smart cash register. That same night, some 250 metres from the pharmacy, thieves also broke into the district's fire station to steal hydraulic and electrical tools which were presumably used to commit other robberies, as they were specifically designed to open doors.
The most recent case took place at a pharmacy located on the Camino de Los Prados in Malaga city. It was Thursday, 29 May, and the perpetrators managed, in just a few minutes, to smash the window and flee with the cash register. Although the alarm went off, the police were too late to arrive.
The total number of pharmacy assaults linked to this gang is at least 13: six in Marbella, at least two in Estepona, four in Malaga and one in Torremolinos. By the time the one in Torremolinos took place, the investigation was already at an advanced stage. The officers were aware that the suspects were from an Eastern European country and the government delegate in Andalucía - Pedro Fernández - has already confirmed that they were Bulgarian.
Although investigators knew that the robbers moved around in stolen cars, two BMW models (an X3 and an X5) and a Peugeot 5008 - in which they eventually crashed - it is suspected that they may have used a device to evade police tracking systems. Furthermore, the speed and virulence used in the raids, as well as the protective measures to safeguard their identity, denoted the professionalism of the thieves, who apparently had an extensive criminal record in Spain.
The coordinated investigators were waiting for them to make a move in order to capture them. In an unfortunate turn of events, however, the criminals not only tried to escape, but also caused the death of an officer, who couldn't avoid the car crash on the motorway at Torremolinos, on his way home from work. The thieves were trying to evade identification by the police after a robbery attempt in Puerto de la Torre, when they collided with Antonio Ramos's car while driving on the wrong side of the road.
The two vehicles caught fire and all four died almost immediately. After the flames were put out, the officers found the tools stolen from the fire station, which the thieves were carrying in the Peugeot.
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