The Guardia Civil have arrested a 19-year-old lad from Motril suspected of being behind the theft of at least 29 motorbikes in Salobreña and Almuñécar.

What has led to his undoing, it seems, is that he has the habit of photographing each one of the bikes he allegedly stole and posting them online, offering them for spare parts.

According to the Guardia Civil, during the first months of 2019 there had been an unusually high number of motorbike thefts in the above-mentioned towns, all of which had disappeared without a trace. Normally, they reappear, stripped and dumped. The reason, it was later discovered, was they had all been stripped and sold as parts via Internet.

Things became unstuck for the arrested man when he was arrested on the 1st of May 2019 attempting to steal one in Almuñécar. Surprised in the act, he at first attempted to escape but was quickly caught. During his arrest his mobile was confiscated.

The police suspected that the phone could contain information relevant to the ongoing investigation so they applied for a warrant to examine the data on the phone. It was when examining photos on his phone that they discovered the ones of the stolen bikes and a posterior examination of his social-media account (Whatsapp) confirmed their suspicions.

(News: Almunecar/Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)