Police describe a man as a specialist in stealing rental cars from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport. He has now been arrested for the 57th time, caught red-handed in his signature crime. The 45-year-old Algerian national, identified as Badi R., was apprehended by the Mossos d’Esquadra in the early hours of Thursday morning, finding him with the keys to a vehicle he had just tricked tourists into giving him.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Despite his extensive history of arrests-his eighth in the airport car park this year alone-the suspect has consistently avoided prison time. According to police sources, he also has no formal criminal record in terms of convictions. His case highlights the ongoing challenge of dealing with prolific repeat offenders, a persistent issue for law enforcement across the city. Indeed, Badi R.’s repeated detentions for similar offences mirror other cases, such as the recent arrest of a thief known for the ‘stain method’ who had 27 prior arrests.
A Polished and Deceptive Modus Operandi
Badi R.’s success hinges on a meticulously crafted persona. Described as impeccably dressed, polite, and charming, he approaches travellers in the rental car return areas. Fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Arabic, and often wearing a high-visibility vest to appear as an official employee, he easily convinces unsuspecting victims he is there to handle their vehicle return.
“Nobody distrusts him. It’s impossible. He makes everything so easy that people hand over the car keys, convinced he works for the company,” a source familiar with the investigation told La Vanguardia. This confidence trick proves so effective that he has been known to steal up to three cars in a single day.
The thief constantly adapts his methods to evade police, who now recognise him on airport security cameras. For instance, he might arrive via public transport to remain inconspicuous. As in his latest arrest, he might drive a previously stolen vehicle. On Thursday, he arrived at El Prat in a car he had stolen from Barcelona Sants station, which he had fitted with licence plates taken from a pensioner’s car parked on a street in Badalona. Inside the vehicle, police found a bag containing screwdrivers for swapping the plates.
The Revolving Door of Justice
He quickly sells the stolen vehicles for between €1,500 and €2,000. When arrested, Badi R. was carrying over €1,000 in cash, believed to be the proceeds from his last sale. Police say buyers are typically criminal networks who either use the cars for other offences or send them to complicit workshops. There, these networks leave the vehicles to ‘cool off’ for several months before altering their chassis numbers and reselling them in other countries.
Despite the scale of his operation, each arrest leads to the same outcome: release pending a future court date. The Mossos d’Esquadra routinely include a detailed account of his reoffending in their reports to the courthouse in El Prat, requesting a restraining order to ban him from the airport. Prosecutors support the measure, but to date, none of the five local investigating judges have granted it.
Legal sources suggest this judicial reluctance may stem from recent rulings by the Provincial Court of Barcelona. The higher court has, in fact, overturned similar airport restraining orders. It argues that such a measure infringes on an individual’s fundamental rights without a specific, identifiable victim being named in the order. Since charges are typically classified as fraud, the cases slowly accumulate in Barcelona’s criminal courts.
A Frustrating ‘Game’ for Police
This legal impasse has created what one officer described as “a kind of game that should end one day.” The suspect reportedly remains calm and polite during his frequent arrests. Demonstrating his impunity, on more than one occasion after being released from the courthouse, he has taken public transport directly back to the airport to steal another car. He even smiles and greets the officers who arrested him as he leaves the court building with his state-appointed lawyer.
While the airport has seen a dramatic 82% drop in reported thefts in recent months, Badi R. has become a top priority for the airport police division. His continued presence undermines security efforts at a transport hub that is booming with activity, having recently set a new passenger record for February. For the Mossos, the cycle of arresting, documenting, and releasing the same individual has become a deeply frustrating routine.
