Alleged Garden23 Operation Leads to Arrest in Alicante Region
In this case, the Civil Guards carried out a major operation aimed at stopping a suspect responsible for multiple forceful home robberies in Teulada-Moraira and Benissa, both towns within Alicante. The regional court, Alicante Investigation Court No. 9, ordered the defendant’s temporary detention as the investigation progressed.
Investigators from the Calp and Moraira Civil Guard districts launched a comprehensive inquiry after receiving several complaints of burglaries reported during the summer of 2022 in Benissa and Teulada-Moraira. The operation, identified as Garden23, marked the critical beginning of the sustained effort to locate and apprehend the criminal.
Early in the probe, officers traced the suspect’s movements by identifying the vehicles used, despite the individual having switched cars to hinder pursuit. Once the vehicles were located and the suspect was identified, authorities learned that the individual had fled to his country of origin, delaying accountability but not stopping the pursuit.
February 2023 saw a shift in the investigation as detectives refined their approach to connect the various crimes to a single perpetrator. The team focused on gathering corroborating details and aligning the cases to build a robust case file.
On 24 March, in the final phase of the operation, supervised by Dénia Investigation Court No. 1 and with oversight from Alicante Investigation Court No. 9, officers conducted a search of the suspect’s residence. In a commercial building in Alicante as well as in the nearby town, investigators recovered a large quantity of jewelry and other stolen items, along with cash, mobile phones, clothing, and tools used in the offenses. A number of individuals were detained, and the primary suspect was present at the time of the raid and subsequently taken into custody for processing in court.
On 25 March, the 58-year-old detainee, an Algerian national with an extensive police record related to similar incidents, was remanded to Alicante Investigation Court No. 9 for provisional arrest while the investigation continued.
It is noted that the majority of recovered works were returned to their rightful owners. For the items that could not be located, authorities continued efforts to identify their owners or recover the assets, while investigators believe the suspect had plans to depart the country for Algeria, where the missing items may have been moved or disposed of.