Police say a criminal network tied to robberies at the homes of Pau Cubarsí and Joan García has been dismantled after three arrests on 1 October at Gavà station. The homes were robbed between December and January, and investigators say the case led them back to the group. Barcelona were left dealing with an off-field story involving two of their current players.
The arrests and the suspect identified
A Bola reported that the investigation by the Mossos d'Esquadra culminated in the arrests. The same report identified Arsim Blaku as the group leader, describing him as a 58-year-old Albanian and Kosovar national with four decades of experience in robberies of luxury homes.
The reporting also says Blaku returned to Spain in November 2025 after three years away. That is the detail that gives the case its shape, because it places a long-running suspect back in the country before the arrests were made.
The watch trail and wider case
A Bola also says a black-market watch sale helped investigators identify the group. That was part of the route police used to connect the suspects to robberies in the Barcelona area, including the homes of Cubarsí and García.
The exact degree of that link should stay with the police account, not get stretched beyond it. What is clear is that the operation ended with three arrests, one named suspect, and a case that had already moved from the players' homes to a wider criminal network.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
