Hooded men who robbed Aldi supermarkets armed with machetes arrested in Malaga province

Guardia Civil and Local Police officers have collaborated and arrested the three people suspected of several supermarket robberies in Malaga province this year in a large-scale operation that finally bore fruit in Coín in the Guadalhorce valley on 26 July. The police, who had already located the vehicle used for the robberies, thwarted the latest robbery attempt thanks to the use of a tracking device.

On 9 July, SUR reported the robbery at machete point, which took place at an Aldi in Cártama two days earlier. The perpetrators managed to escape, leaving the police with the suspicion that the robbery might be related to another one, which had taken place a month earlier in a supermarket in Coín.

For weeks after the incident in Cártama, the police carried out an investigation, focusing on up to four armed robberies in establishments in the two towns. The hooded suspects, usually two or three people, would enter shops with their faces covered with balaclavas and with machetes in hand.

The police discovered that they were using the same vehicle in all the robberies and they would only take it out on these occasions. The car was placed under surveillance, which is what ultimately led to the arrests on Saturday, 26 July.

With the use of a discreet tracking device, several plainclothes units were mobilised when movement was detected. Around 8.40pm, two of the suspects, who are brothers, got out of the car in Coín. The third suspect waited for them, ready to make a getaway as soon as the robbery was over. Barely had the robbers entered into the supermarket before the police intercepted them, leaving them no time to escape.

The three suspects were handed over to the court, which ordered their imprisonment. All three have invoked their right not to testify and are being investigated for the crimes of robbery with violence and intimidation, falsification of documents and membership of a criminal group.