The Mossos d'Esquadra, the Guardia Urbana de Barcelona, and Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona have arrested 85 people in four months for persistent pickpocketing on the Catalan capital's bus network. The arrested individuals had accumulated 628 prior police records and were part of a joint operation focused on repeated thefts on high-density routes.
The investigation has revealed a sustained pattern targeting particularly vulnerable victims. The groups deliberately acted against women, the elderly, users with reduced mobility, families with strollers, and tourists, with one group alone accounting for 18% of the incidents investigated in a single month.
The investigation reached 136 people and dismantled five organized groups
The Joint Investigation Team, comprising the Regional Unit for Urban Transport of the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Guardia Urbana de Barcelona, and TMB, has investigated 136 individuals. The work combined complaints, TMB video surveillance, police surveillance, and victim identification.
Among the detected structures is an organization of ten people who operated from an occupied building in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. From there, they managed stolen phones to access bank details and expand fraud after the initial theft.
Another group, consisting of eight people, operated in Barcelona, Terrassa, and Manresa. Investigators also identified a lone perpetrator with significant criminal activity over several months.
Furthermore, a subgroup of 35 individuals specialized in large-scale scams using stolen devices emerged. The investigation places a family structure within this branch and the use of straw men to move money and hinder the tracking of operations, in a mechanism linked to protecting data from stolen mobile phones.
The thefts led to scams exceeding 40,000 euros
The stolen items were primarily mobile phones, wallets, and bank cards. After the theft, the groups used these items for scams, fraudulent purchases, or to access victims' personal information.
One of the more specific branches consisted of four women who carried out immediate operations with transfers and fraudulent purchases. They even used mobile POS devices to charge payments after acquiring the terminals or cards.
The fraudulent transactions linked to these crimes exceed 40,000 euros. European police coordination has also made it possible to obtain information about arrests in other countries following the activity of these groups in Catalonia.
In parallel, the operation has confirmed that 85% of those arrested are males between 16 and 77 years old, although mixed groups and one composed solely of women have also appeared. Part of the surveillance relied on the more than 4,500 cameras in the bus network, which cover practically the entire fleet and allow for real-time viewing and immediate download of images, a system that also connects with video surveillance on public transport.
Two large-scale operations mobilized an average of 200 officers in six months
In the last six months, the involved forces have deployed two large-scale operations with an average of 200 officers. These actions have resulted in 29 arrests, 10 investigated individuals, and 236 accumulated prior records.
The judicial authority has issued ten restraining orders from the bus network against individuals involved in this criminal activity.