Billy - question is why do they believe they were gassed? If you look at the information behind this, gassing a van to the point of making it easy to enter without killing the occupants is a medical-level skill. It just doesn't make any sense. I'm not trying to be arsy I just don't see the sense here. Drugged, maybe, but gassed? I don;t get it.
Good question, it was themselves that said they had been gassed, they offered no evidence, we didn't ask, we had no reason to not believe them. I suppose we just assumed or they might have suggested something like Ether. It's beyond my pay level to say if they had been drugged or gassed, I'm only repeating what they claimed. And if recall correctly there were stories about Eastern Europeans performing robberies of villas in southern Spain using any method they could, and unless they had been captured and found guilty how could anyone know where they were from and what method they used.
I don't recall the exact conversation with the "gassed" parties but it was about the fact the villains could take their time to rummage through all the belongings without disturbance, that is what I remember. It may well have been the fact they had been drugged and now it's mentioned I can see it's probably the more likely answer, however, it means we should be ever vigilant, ever on the watch, these theives are predators, they spot a victim miles away,.
This has reminded me of an incident which happened to a chap I know ( quite well) when he was travelling home from Spain in France, he stayed at a budget type hotel and was robbed, the villains had prised open the window which was next to the door and then just opened the door, all while the family, him, his missus and 3 kids, were sleeping. No gas or anything else mentioned, but he was definitely robbed, window evidence etc.
The alleged " gassing" crime could be a case for Poirot, " the case of the missing gas" ( no baked beans gags please)
Best regards to all, Billy Westley
