One case that has dominated Cáceres headlines in recent years is the Millionaire robbery at Atrio. This incident, which began on an October morning in 2021, moved quickly through the legal system and garnered global press attention. With the principal defendants already convicted in a higher court, the matter is nearing its final judicial phase in January, following a Supreme Court verdict that upheld the previous conviction of Priscila Lara Guevara and Constantin Dumitru. If the case were framed as a film, its arc could be mapped into four key chapters.
Theft of 45 Luxury Bottles from the Winery
The sequence began in the early hours of October 27, 2021. The luxury hotel owners reported the loss on the morning of the 28th after discovering 45 bottles missing from the winery. The crown jewel among them was a Chateau d’Yquem from 1806, valued at €310,000. The owners had acquired it at a London auction years earlier, and the bottle carried a storied past due to a breakage during transit that required re-bottling. Early theories centered on two guests who had stayed at the hotel the night before and left at dawn. The narrative suggested that one guest reserved a room, dined with another visitor, and then, at daybreak, ordered room service from the kitchen. The bottles vanished amid the quiet of the night shift, seemingly unnoticed until sunrise.
Arrest of Two Suspects in Croatia
Following the robbery, investigators pursued two parallel threads: identifying the culprits and locating the missing 45 luxury bottles. The first major break came six months later in July 2022, when Constantin Dumitru and Lara Priscila Guevara were arrested during a joint Interpol operation as they crossed the border into Croatia by car. Police sources describe them as central figures in the case, their movements tracked for half a year. Dumitru bore a prior criminal record, including a separate allegation of stealing a bottle from a Madrid gourmet shop. Priscilla Guevara had no such record cited by authorities.
Both suspects were transported back to Spain. First to Madrid, then, at the judge’s request, to Cáceres to face questioning in August 2022. After testimony, the judge ordered pretrial detention on grounds of high flight risk. The case drew wide media attention due to the high value of the stolen bottles and the unusual setting of a luxury hotel heist. High-profile legal representation followed, with the defendants hiring a prominent Madrid attorney. Hotel management and staff, including those on the night shift, were summoned as witnesses for statements and inquiries.
The Media Spotlight on the Courtroom Proceedings
What stands out about the proceedings is the speed and scale of the investigation given its complexity. Seven months elapsed from the pair’s arrest to the trial. Despite attempts by the defense to secure release on appeal, the court denied every request. The trial in Cáceres commenced in March 2023, in a room prepared to accommodate a press presence, and stretched over several days with testimony from the defendants, witnesses, and experts. The defense maintained innocence and argued a lack of conclusive evidence, insisting that the defendants were on holiday touring Europe at the time. Yet witnesses and tests placed them at the scene. Ultimately the Cáceres Provincial Court sentenced both to four and a half years in prison for robbery. They were still serving one-and-a-half-year sentences as of January. This rapid sequence set a record for a case of this magnitude in the region.
From TSJEx Appeal to the Supreme Court Ruling
The defense challenged the decision before the High Court of Extremadura, which upheld the initial verdict. An appeal to the Supreme Court followed, and the court recently reaffirmed the prior judgment. The higher court’s review confirmed that the suspects were present at the hotel, shared a meal there, and intended to sample something from the kitchen that night. Exploiting a distraction in the kitchen, the defendants allegedly entered the pantry and seized the bottles. With the judicial process drawing to a close, the lingering question for the courtroom and the public remains unresolved: what happened to the missing bottles after the theft remains unanswered as of now. [Citation: Extremadura High Court records]