He’s warning anyone considering of driving in that space to bear in mind and train excessive warning
A bicycle owner who had 1000’s of kilos value of apparatus stolen in a roadside rip-off has urged anybody else driving within the space to train warning. World Biking Community’s Conor Dunne was driving alongside the AP7 highway that hyperlinks Barcelona with France when the drama unfolded.
Dunne, 33, had simply ridden within the Traka gravel race and was within the automotive with a cameraman simply exterior Girona. The Irish rider defined {that a} automotive then got here up behind them flashing its headlights, whereas the motive force gesticulated for them to tug over.
Once they ultimately did so, the motive force distracted them each whereas one other individual hiding within the automotive crept out and stole worthwhile digicam and recording gear, together with their private belongings.
As they drove off, they threw Conor and the cameraman’s passports out of the window to discourage them from giving chase. In a video on GCN, Conor stated Spanish police informed him it was a little-known trick that many individuals fell for – he was apparently not the primary individual that day to fall sufferer to it.
Officers reportedly consider {that a} gang is working within the space, stealing from outsiders who usually are not aware of the tactic. Conor stated: “I’ve realized that this can be a actually frequent factor to occur on the AP7 motorway between Girona, the French border, and Barcelona.
“I’ve by no means heard of it in my life. I’ve had teammates dwelling in Girona and Andorra. I really feel so silly, however I’ve by no means heard of it, and I do not know anybody who has heard of it both.
“I believed it was the police so I believed I used to be doing the best factor. You do not have to cease for an unmarked police automotive in case you are not 100 per cent certain it’s a police automotive, so the recommendation is simply to drive slowly to a police station,” Conor continued. “Apparently these guys are a part of a extremely organised ring.”
The issue is now so extreme that there are indicators urging individuals to not cease for different autos. Dunne stated that the police even had pictures of the suspected perpetrator, which he picked out.
The British Embassy in Madrid has beforehand issued the same warning, urging holidaymakers to “be careful for ruthless gangs of modern-day freeway robbers who’re preying on individuals driving foreign-registered autos and rent automobiles.”
In a two-year interval, police within the Catalonia area of Spain handled 126 British victims of theft on the AP-7 motorway between the French border and the Valencia area.
Describing precisely the way it unfolded, Conor stated: “We headed to the airport, acquired on the motorway, and actually performed one track on the radio as we got here down the slip highway onto the motorway and we began enjoyable for a bit. Then all the pieces simply occurred.
“The time was bizarre – it was simply all so quick. The man got here up subsequent to us in a automotive and pointed at my entrance wheel. We had been filming in a tough, gravelly automotive park so I simply thought possibly I’ve acquired a puncture and this man got here spherical me put his hazards on to gradual our automobile down. We slowed to about 60KPH on the motorway and I simply thought ‘what the hell is happening?’.
“I went spherical him and carried on and he was actually animated, saying ‘it is advisable to cease’ and pointing on the automotive. It was a brand new automotive, no scratches, and a part of me thought possibly he was an undercover cop and he has seen my automotive has an issue and he desires to tug me over. There was just one man so I simply stopped.
“We pulled over, stayed within the automotive, and he got here out and appeared pleasant sufficient. He was pointing on the wheel saying ‘it is advisable to come and see the wheel’. In hindsight, you’re feeling so silly however on the time, I believed i might get out and see the wheel. It was only one man and you could possibly see by means of the again of the automotive and there was no person else. We acquired out and have been wanting on the wheel, after which, in hindsight, it was so intelligent how he did it. He distracted us, shouted in Spanish over the noise of the motorway, and my Spanish could not sustain.
“He introduced us spherical to the again of the automotive – this was all 20 seconds – and all of a sudden he simply left. We acquired again in our automotive then we noticed him throw some stuff out and Liam stated, ‘why is he throwing stuff out of our automotive?’ and we realised it was our passports and our wallets after which the penny dropped. We seemed again and all of our luggage had gone, my bag with my private belongings, complete digicam equipment, two digicam our bodies, all of the lenses, model new drone, your entire movie from the Traka which was within the exhausting drives within the bag.
“I believe what’s key about this that was the principle factor to journey us up, was that we all the time thought there was only one man within the automotive that stopped with us the entire time. We had our eyes on him all the time, however he was simply distracting whereas a second hidden man -or two – acquired out and stole from the opposite facet of our automotive with out us seeing. It is loopy how he managed this.”
