Four women aged between 29 and 43 have been arrested in Alicante by the National Police after allegedly dressing as Muslim women to steal from commercial establishments.
According to sources close to the investigation, the arrested women, who are Spanish national residents in the city, were caught wearing clothes of Arab appearance while stealing items valued at 480euro in a perfumery located inside an Alicante shopping centre. Witnesses reported that they even attempted to imitate the Arabic language during the incident.
Three of the suspects were captured by the National Police on Tuesday, 20th October, with the fourth arrested on Friday morning. The group operated in a coordinated manner; while some kept watch, others took boxes of perfumes and a third member concealed the bottles.
Investigators believe the detainees disguised themselves as Muslim women to conceal their identity and hinder subsequent identification by law enforcement. All four face charges of theft and belonging to a criminal group, with the aggravating circumstance of disguise.