GOAT THIEF ARRESTED

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Officers from the Guardia Civil have arrested a 49 year old Spanish man, accused of stealing 47 sheep, two goats and three sacks of feed worth 4,500 euro from livestock farms in the Alicante area.

Operation “Norit” began a few months ago when investigators became aware of a number of thefts from rural locations, including an attempted theft of cattle in the Alicante town of Benissa, although the thief fled after being spotted.

After an intensive investigation and surveillance operation, the officers now believe that the suspect in their custody could be responsible for different thefts committed in towns including Altea, l ‘Alfas del Pi, Villajoyosa, and Benissa between March and December 2013.

This person allegedly accessed the farms by breaking the locks and removed up to 10 animals at a time, as this was all that could fit into his vehicle. The animals were all selected based on the similarity in looks to his existing flocks, thus allowing him to “camouflage the stolen animals” amongst his own on his property.

The thief would then sell the animals on and had several ways to attract potential buyers, mainly from the Muslim community and amongst his friends. The first sale took place when the thief accompanied the stolen animals to a market in the town of Calpe, where they were sold directly to other farmers.

He also gained friendships with other farmers and managed to sell a variety of stolen animals directly to them.

The detainee, who has made available to the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Denia, is accused four counts of burglary, a crime of attempted burglary, two counts of theft and crimes against public health.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/42125/

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