TWO hooded men stormed an Alicante area finca and threatened to kill the farmer if he didn’t hand over all of his money.
The Spanish intruders escaped with just 15 bottles of extra virgin olive oil and €120 in cash plus some bank cards.
Four people have been arrested by the Policia Nacional in Alicante and a fifth at the bus station in Zujar, Granada province.
BOTTLED OLIVE OIL(Pixabay image)
The victim was surprised by the hooded men breaking into his property and he was zip-tied to a chair, as they searched his finca for items to steal.
One of the intruders brandished a knife and his colleague had a shotgun which he pointed at the farmer.
As the gun was thrust into his chest, the knife-wielding robber asked him where he kept his money.
The farmer responded that the only cash he had was in his wallet and they started to search the two buildings on his land.
He was telling the truth and the thieves had to make do with some olive oil and money, as well as his bank cards, mobile phone, and a pellet shotgun.
The men called it a day but as they left, they threatened to burn down the finca if the farmer reported them to the police.
After some time, he managed to untie himself and fled the house, fearing the intruders were still somewhere around the farm.
He jumped a fence and ran in fear towards the mountains where he hid.
Hours later when the danger had seemingly passed, he came out of hiding and headed home.
The farmer got into his car and stopped a lorry driver to use his phone to call the Policia Nacional.
Officers discovered the men had unsuccessfully tried to use the stolen bank cards at various ATMs in Alicante, and believed that more people were involved in setting up the robbery.
It so happened that a friend of the victim had been at the finca in the afternoon, along with three women that he barely knew.
A check on their identities revealed that one of them had been suspected of being previously involved in a violent robbery with the ‘hooded’ men.
A surveillance operation was launched at various addresses and three men and two women were subsequently arrested on a variety of charges including kidnapping, violent robbery, and illegal possession of weapons.
