"It has stolen us 73 times in two years" |The mail

CARMEN BARREIRO

The robberies in shops are the order of the day in our country, with a rhythm of complaints that does not fall from 700.000 a year since 2014.Wine bottles, ham, perfumes, small appliances, brand clothes...A rosary of thefts of all kinds and condition that suppose more than 1.800 million in losses for a sector that feels "helpless" in the face of "impunity" with which thieves act, the majority of multirreincidents.«We have a very serious problem with this type of thefts, perpetrated in most cases by authentic organized bands that are dedicated to stealing 'high standing' products easy to place later in the black market.We talk, for example, perfumery articles (makeup, creams, perfumes...), Drinks (reserve wines, high graduation liquors...), pieces of Iberians (ham, sausage, loin...) or fashion accessories (earrings, necklaces, sunglasses...) », Denounces the president of the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC), Pedro Campo.

According to the data managed by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), eight out of ten robberies in supermarkets - the sector most punished by friends of others, together with the perfumeries - «are the responsibility of bands of professional thieves that make thetheft your way of life.They function as a criminal organization, in which each of its members has an assigned task;From the management of logistics to commit theft to the storage and subsequent resale of the articles stolen, ”they explain in the Competitiveness, Commerce and Employer Consumption Commission.

10 bottles under neoprene

«It's not about people who steal out of necessity.They are as lawyers, authentic law experts who know them all to avoid entering the jail or paying the fines imposed on them.The difficulty with which we find merchants is that there is no legal tool to fight against recidivism in theft of less than 400 euros, ”laments Pedro Campo.Hence, the AlmightOPERATIVITY IN JUDICIAL PROCEDURES ».

Merchants insist that "the current fines system is not effective in solving the problem of the professionalization of thefts" and exposing as a showcase the most striking cases of repeat offenders recorded in recent years in different autonomous communities."The 'Pichar Case' is a very clear example of how to compensate some bands to assume the payment a fine as part of the fee they pay for having that profession," they argue in the CEOE.This is a band formed by five people who are dedicated to the theft of bottle of alcohol in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante.They have been denounced 24 times by a supermarket chain from August 2015 to July 2018 for the subtraction of products worth 6.000 euros.The sanctions imposed in the 23 trials held since then ascend to 5.600 euros.

Another case that attracts the attention of merchants is that of 'Perlita', a 19 -year -old girl dedicated to stealing bottles of alcohol (sometimes next to other people) and who has been denounced up to 73 times by a chain ofsupermarkets within two years.«It is always undocumented and has not paid a single euro of the more than 10.000 that have been imposed on fines.Of the 48 judgments to which it has been summoned, it has only attended two ».There is more.The 'Mirela Case' (20 complaints of robberies in supermarkets.Sometimes acts with 'perlita');The 'cat' case (44 complaints).He is a man who steals liquors with a curious 'modus operandi'."Enter about ten bottles into a neoprene suit that wears under the clothes, pay two cat sands and leaves".

Los 'modus operandi' más habituales

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