The control of gold buying stores clarifies several robberies
During the crisis, the business of buying gold soared in Burgos, so much so that 42 establishments were counted in 2012. However, the great investment only in security (strong cameras, video surveillance, special crystals, alarms... .), which goes up to 50,000 euros, has turned many back. Today there are barely a dozen open, of which four also have a jewelry license. What does not change are the robberies that the Brigade of the Judicial Police clarifies each year, and that they are around ten. Most are blamed on domestic workers who steal, mainly, jewelry, and which are classified from misdemeanors to crimes if the value of what is stolen exceeds 500 euros or not.
There are also cases of people who obtain great benefits by selling valuables that could belong to people in their family environment, and at the slightest suspicion, the National Police buying and selling group contacts their relatives to alert them of the situation. However, the agents cannot act beyond the warning, since if the jewel, chain or ring was found in the family home, it is not classified as a crime. While years ago the money obtained in many of these pledges of valuable objects from nearby people was used to buy drugs, from the National Police they warn the change of final destination towards bets, especially sports.
All establishments with a license to buy gold objects or specialties -including the appraisal of precious stones- are adhered to a national online system, in which they must account for all the transactions they carry out, the value, the seller, attach a photograph of what was acquired or the weight of the metals. The process was digitized five years ago, and allows to be aware of all the purchases of jewelry and different objects that occur throughout the country, almost instantly, to clarify a theft or a report of theft.
Each establishment must guard, once an element is purchased, a minimum of 15 days before putting it back up for sale or melting it down, during which time the Police gold buying and selling group carries out the checks they deem appropriate, mainly by collating the recordings that may appear on the jewelry with the theft reports filed. In addition, they recommend photographing the jewels that may be the object of being stolen, since having a good image of these can help, and a lot, to detect them if they are later put up for sale.
