Guardia Civil and Policia Local of Telde Local Police macro operation against illegal car racing on GC-1

Agents intervened in the middle of the illegal road race and arrested 42 people, and are investigating another 6 for crimes against road safety

40 vehicles used in the races were seized and their owners taken to court. A large number of charges have been filed against the Road Safety Law, the General Vehicle Regulations and the Citizen Security Law

The races had an audience and they competed by positioning themselves in parallel in the middle of GC-1

The Guardia Civil and the Telde Local Police, as part of operation “TODOGASGC”, have arrested 42 people and placed another 6 under investigation for crimes against road safety, and their participation in illegal races. Agents from both police forces detected illegal races being carried out, with some frequency, along various routes in Telde, and initiated a joint operation, discovering that the participants were using an alert system to warn of any police presence and thus resume races whenever the agents left the area.

Discreet surveillance of illegal races

For more than three months, a police operation was designed based on discreet and remote surveillance with camouflaged vehicles and police drones that would help capture the images that showed the true scope of the activities being carried out. The researchers were able to verify how, when competing, the participants positioned themselves in parallel along the GC-1 main north-south highway, slowing to within normal speed limits before starting each competition using an agreed signal: 3 honks of the horn.

During these competitions, both passenger cars and mopeds, mechanically rectified to increase their power and speed, participated randomly switching lanes and even passing other road users simultaneously on both the left and right sides, causing serious risks to road safety. The moped races had up to 7 participants at a time who, once the competition had started, constantly overtook each other during a 6 km round trip.

They had an audience of spectators that gathered without any type of protection or signage

An added risk in these illegal competitions was the presence of large numbers of members the public who, lacking any type of safety measures (such as reflective vests), stood both on the hard shoulder and in the adjoining lanes of the GC-1 to watch the races. Some of the attendees recklessly crossed the motorway in the middle of the night, to stand on the central reservation, so as to be able to observe the races in both directions and even record them on their mobile phones.

These races ended with the large gatherings of both the public and participants themselves in various randomly chosen places, with the aim of commenting on the results of the races, performances in which it is also suspected that the consumption of narcotic substances was promoted and indulged.

Police action in the middle of the race

Guardia Civil and the Telde Policia Local carried out the exploitation phase of their operation on March 31, carrying out a large police action in which more than 50 officers and agents participated.

The Local Police participated with numerous patrols as well as with their “UNIDRON” Unit that provided air cover for the entire intervention. On the part of the Guardia Civil, the Citizen Security Unit of the Las Palmas Command, the Cynological Service, the Services Centre and agents from the Las Palmas Traffic Subsector all took part.

This police deployment made it possible to identify the composition of the primary plot and modus operandi of enabling illegal races, resulting in the arrest of 42 individuals and the investigation of another 6.

In addition, 40 vehicles used to commit crimes have been seized and more than fifty administrative denuncias (complaint reports) have been formalised, including crimes against Road Safety Law, highlighting several for driving a motor vehicle with the presence of narcotic substances, those contravening General Vehicle Regulations, for various non-regulatory modifications carried out on vehicles, and Citizen Security Law breaches for being in possession of narcotic substances on public roads, among others.