Thieves use drones to pursue valuable targets in street robberies on Spain’s Costa Blanca

High-tech thieves used a drone to track down people with large amounts of money on the streets of the province of Alicante.

The five men are accused of 22 crimes, most of which were committed in the region, but also in Almería, Murcia, the Balearic Islands and Tarragona.

According to the Guardia Civil, they stole over 122,000 euros – more than half of which was 63,000 euros, which went to a single victim.

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The gang constantly changed their addresses and rental cars and used false or stolen identification documents.

They and the drone would monitor potential targets who may have made large bank or business withdrawals.

The men then stole the cash either by simple robbery or by creating a diversion, such as slashing the tires of their victim’s car.

The crew was deployed in Torrevieja, San Miguel de Salinas, El Campello and San Pedro del Pinatar.

Two properties in San Miguel, two in San Pedro and one on the Orihuela Costa were searched by the police.

During the raids, cash worth 1,584 euros, a drone, 12 pairs of sunglasses, items of clothing and accessories used to conceal their identities, a smoke grenade, special tools for breaking car windows and puncturing tires, binoculars, a flashlight, two laptops worth 2,400 euros and a walkie-talkie transmitter were seized.

The detainees, who were released on bail by a court in Torrevieja, are accused of violent robbery, robbery with violence, fraud, damage to property, forgery and membership of a criminal organisation.