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Crime spree targets expat businesses in Marbella
| Published: | 17 Feb at 4 PM |
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British expats living and working in the popular resort of Marbella are pressing local police for information about a recent and still ongoing crime wave.
Laura Tona, owner of a local sex shop, is the tenth victim of an organised gang active in the area over the past three months. During the break-in, nothing was taken, but others have reported losses of cash and goods. Tona told the Olive Press English language newspaper she was surprised a stop hadn’t been put on the gang’s activities as they were ruining local businesses.
Bar owner Tom Gagen has been hit by the robbers several times over the past three months. His bar is a popular haunt for expats on a night out, ensuring there’s always cash in the till and also in the safe. The first burglary happened on December 12, with a second attack two weeks later, both of which resulted in a combined loss of thousands of euros.
The Coviran supermarket was also targeted twice, even although the owner updated his security after the first break-in. The second attempt was unsuccessful as the owner was in the building and made enough noise to scare the gang away. On the same night, a nearby restaurant was targeted again for the third time in two weeks, netting around 2,000 euros taken from the cash register by the robbers.
Near neighbour David Morrison from Galloway, Scotland had both his home and his business, Scandi Supermarket, burgled. He lost cash on both occasions and reported the thefts to the police, but to he has heard nothing from them to date. Since the raids began, a number of other expat businesses have also been targeted, including Antonio’s Restaurant, the Los Naranjos chicken shop, Bar Grana, the Makkafe Café and the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant.
Business owners who’ve fallen victim to the gang have now formed a group in order to demand action from local police, who seem to have ignored all the victims’ complaints so far. In response to a query by Olive Press reporters, a Spanish National Police spokesperson said he could make no comment on the issue at the present time.
Laura Tona, owner of a local sex shop, is the tenth victim of an organised gang active in the area over the past three months. During the break-in, nothing was taken, but others have reported losses of cash and goods. Tona told the Olive Press English language newspaper she was surprised a stop hadn’t been put on the gang’s activities as they were ruining local businesses.
Bar owner Tom Gagen has been hit by the robbers several times over the past three months. His bar is a popular haunt for expats on a night out, ensuring there’s always cash in the till and also in the safe. The first burglary happened on December 12, with a second attack two weeks later, both of which resulted in a combined loss of thousands of euros.
The Coviran supermarket was also targeted twice, even although the owner updated his security after the first break-in. The second attempt was unsuccessful as the owner was in the building and made enough noise to scare the gang away. On the same night, a nearby restaurant was targeted again for the third time in two weeks, netting around 2,000 euros taken from the cash register by the robbers.
Near neighbour David Morrison from Galloway, Scotland had both his home and his business, Scandi Supermarket, burgled. He lost cash on both occasions and reported the thefts to the police, but to he has heard nothing from them to date. Since the raids began, a number of other expat businesses have also been targeted, including Antonio’s Restaurant, the Los Naranjos chicken shop, Bar Grana, the Makkafe Café and the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant.
Business owners who’ve fallen victim to the gang have now formed a group in order to demand action from local police, who seem to have ignored all the victims’ complaints so far. In response to a query by Olive Press reporters, a Spanish National Police spokesperson said he could make no comment on the issue at the present time.
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