Police in Málaga (Andalusia) have detained an 81-year-old woman accused of carrying out a series of burglaries at holiday apartments in the city.
Investigators believe she exploited her ‘physical fragility’ to move in and out of buildings without drawing attention, before forcing her way into properties by tampering with the locks. At other times, police say she disguised herself as a cleaner to avoid suspicion.
Her luck ran out when a tourist discovered her inside his rented flat and immediately called the authorities. After being taken into custody and appearing before a judge, she was ordered to remain in detention.
According to police, her method involved cutting up pieces of plastic — such as expired bank cards or sections of shampoo bottles and plastic menus (see image below posted by the police on social media) — and using them to bypass doors that were left single-locked, escaping with valuables including jewellery and cash.
When caught by surprise in the apartment of a tourist, she allegedly attempted to talk her way out by insisting she had mistakenly entered the wrong flat.
Officers suspect she is responsible for at least five recent break-ins at short-term rental flats in central Málaga, all carried out using the same ‘slip trick’ of using plastic cards.
When police arrested her inside the apartment, they found she was carrying several plastic tools designed to manipulate insecure locks.
(Main photo is a file image from Unsplash).
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🚨 Detenida una mujer de 81 años por cinco #robos en pisos turísticos
🔓 Usaba la técnica del #resbalón con recortes de plástico, fingía ser limpiadora o alegaba haberse equivocado de puerta
🏘️ Aprovechaba su apariencia frágil para entrar sin levantar sospechas pic.twitter.com/BgpiCreHQS
— Policía Nacional (@policia) August 28, 2025
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