Three high-end SUVs of the same make and model, which had been stolen a week ago in Madrid, allegedly to order for a gang involved in drug trafficking, have been intercepted by officers from the National Police at the Estepona (Málaga) station, who have arrested their three occupants after a chase that ended in Manilva (Málaga), just before entering the municipality of San Roque.
After the first of the stolen vehicles was spotted on the AP-7, heading towards Algeciras, a police operation was launched to intercept it, and the SUV finally crashed violently into a lorry travelling on the same road, the police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Plainclothes officers spotted a high-end SUV making a sudden manoeuvre in the middle of the road and, on checking police databases, found that it had been stolen in Alcobendas (Madrid), so they set up a tracking operation to intercept it.
During the police operation, the officers spotted two other vehicles with identical characteristics, allegedly linked to the first, travelling on the AP-7 in the same direction, which were also listed as stolen.
During the pursuit the vehicle increased its speed to over 200 kilometres per hour and the officers set up a checkpoint at the Manilva toll booth to try to stop it.
On reaching that point and noticing the police roadblock, the vehicle ignored the signals, hit the toll barrier and continued its escape.
Patrols continued the chase for a further thirty kilometres, until the driver lost control and crashed violently into a lorry.
The occupant tried to flee on foot, but officers caught up with him and arrested him. Neither the detainee nor the lorry driver suffered serious injuries.
Meanwhile, at the AP-7 toll booth, the second of the stolen vehicles was intercepted by a patrol, and its driver offered no resistance to arrest.
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Finally, the last of the SUVs was blocked at kilometre marker 138, and its driver was also arrested.
The offences had allegedly been carried out by members of a criminal organisation dedicated to stealing high-end vehicles, generally to order, to supply other criminal groups involved in drug trafficking.
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