An employee of a hypermarket in the Madrid town of Collado Villalba, a municipality on the southern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama with a population of more than 67,000 inhabitants, has been arrested by the Civil Guard for stealing nearly 1,500 bottles of alcohol and other beverages from the establishment, whose market value would have amounted to 17,808 euros. According to a spokesperson for the armed institute who spoke to EL PAÍS, the man was not taking them for personal consumption, but allegedly delivered them at cost price or even below to the owners of three Chinese grocery stores in other parts of the Community of Madrid for resale. The three shopkeepers have also been arrested as receivers of stolen goods.
The events took place, according to this newspaper, at the well-known Hiper Usera supermarket, owned by the Gilarranz family and part of the IFA Group, with 58 stores in the Community of Madrid, Guadalajara, and Toledo. The investigation began following a complaint filed at the end of July by the legal manager of this hypermarket, located in the P-29 industrial estate in Collado Villalba, in which he stated that no less than 1,422 bottles of alcohol and beverages had been stolen from inside the premises in just one month. “The drinks disappeared and there was no money. Among them, there was everything, from beer to bottles of distilled alcohol, such as rum, and soft drinks like Coca Cola,” the spokesperson details.
💬An embezzlement as “fresh” as it is unusual!
❗A worker and 3 alleged receivers were arrested after stealing 1,422 bottles of alcohol and beverages from a hypermarket in Collado Villalba.
📦 He prepared “phantom” orders.
🔄 He took the merchandise out through unusual areas.
💶 He charged… pic.twitter.com/0HtM6JNSw6— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) September 8, 2026
As the investigation progressed and after analyzing all the information, it was concluded that the perpetrator of the theft was not a simple employee, but a shift supervisor of the warehouse, where he was also responsible for preparing product orders destined for individuals. He is a 33-year-old Spaniard whose criminal or police record and length of employment there are unknown.
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The worker, according to the same source, prepared “phantom” orders, took products out of the warehouse “through places different from those usually used” for the exit of goods, and carried out “transactions through cash payments, without the corresponding invoicing” or any accounting record.
Finally, the agents managed to arrest the main suspect and three alleged receivers ― a person who buys, hides, or sells stolen objects to obtain illegal profit ― and also recovered merchandise worth 11,000 euros. The rest of the money, 6,800 euros, has been lost. The receivers are of Chinese nationality and have grocery stores in the Madrid towns of Cerceda, Becerril de la Sierra, and Fuenlabrada. A vehicle and two vans used for transporting the stolen products were also seized from them.
Apparently, the shopkeepers made a specific order to the worker, and he took the bottles out the back door, sold them at cost price or below, and kept the money. He is accused of embezzlement, which carries a prison sentence of six months to three years, and the three store owners of receiving stolen goods, which is punishable by six months to two years in prison.
