The National Police have arrested three young men in the Alicante town of Denia who were travelling in a rental van with false registration plates and a stolen motorbike hidden inside. The information was confirmed in a statement released by the Alicante Provincial Police Headquarters.
The detainees, aged between 20 and 25 years old, are alleged to be responsible for the crimes of motor vehicle theft and document forgery. The three individuals were intercepted by officers whilst driving a hired van that had been fitted with the number plates of an entirely different vehicle.
In addition to the stolen motorbike discovered by officers inside the van, the detainees are accused of stealing a second motorbike. This second vehicle had been hidden in a Denia car park, allegedly with the intention of returning to collect it at a later date.
The arrests took place after a member of the public contacted the National Police via a call to the 091 control room. The caller reported seeing a group of men loading a motorbike into the back of a van. This witness provided officers with a description of the vehicle and indicated the direction in which they had fled.
Following the alert, National Police officers deployed across the town in search of the vehicle. It was located a short time later driving on a road on the outskirts of Denia, where officers managed to intercept it. Upon inspection, officers noted that the characteristics of the motorbike inside the van did not match the initial description provided by the witness.
Simultaneously, another member of the public arrived at the National Police station to report the theft of their motorbike. This vehicle turned out to be the exact one found inside the intercepted van.
The van itself had been previously hired by one of the arrested individuals. Officers discovered that the vehicle was operating with “cloned” registration plates, as the false plates had been screwed directly over the top of the original ones.
The National Police continued their operation to locate the other missing vehicle, which was eventually discovered hidden in a secluded area of a car park. Following the completion of standard police proceedings, the detainees have been placed at the disposal of the Denia duty investigative courts.
