A notorious jewellery thief has finally been captured by the Guardia Civil after years of cat-and-mouse in the Canary Islands, with authorities linking him to two break-ins at the same house, making off with €22,000 in valuables and a staggering €30,000 in cash.
The arrest took place following a painstaking investigation by officers in Agüimes, Gran Canaria, who had been hunting the elusive crook since September 2022, when the first burglary was reported.
The luxury haul, including around €10,000 in jewellery carefully stored in a safe and jewellery box, vanished without a trace, leaving police baffled. Investigators initially had their sights set on a known suspect with a history of similar crimes, but the trail ran cold due to lack of evidence.
Then, in January this year, the same family were targeted again. This time, thieves took €12,000 in jewellery and €30,000 in cash, prompting police to widen their net. What they uncovered was a shocking twist: a man who had previously offered seemingly helpful information during the first investigation had, in fact, been trying to mislead officers, and was ultimately identified as the thief.
An investigation into gold sales in the region helped officers connect the dots, leading to the long-awaited arrest of the suspect, whose identity has not yet been released. Authorities described the man as a “professional criminal” who had been slipping through the cracks for years.
He is now in custody and facing a string of charges, with investigators praising the breakthrough as a major success in the fight against organised theft in the Canaries.
