MADRID: Spanish police said Monday they had smashed a criminal gang who preyed on tourists in Madrid by posing as police officers.

Eight suspected members of the gang, all of them Iranian and Pakistani nationals, were arrested on November 22, police said, describing a grab-and-game game to take cash, jewellery and smartphones.

The gang would approach tourists and ask to see their documents and wallets “with the pretext of checking to see it they had drugs or counterfeit money,” police said in a statement.—AFP