Armed police raid on Cristiano Ronaldo's tenant Ricardo Alves

A flat owned by Cristiano Ronaldo has been raided by armed police hunting a violent criminal.

The apartment, near Lisbon, was unwittingly rented by the 26-year-old Real Madrid star to Ricardo Alves – wanted over a series of carjackings and robbing ATMs.

Mr Alves, 28, was reportedly never late paying the rent.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo, 26, bought the two-storey flat in Alcochete, near the Portuguese capital Lisbon in 2008 while still playing for Manchester United.

A female neighbour said: 'Three guys lived there. They were always driving different, powerful cars.

'But I never suspected anything.'

The gang are said to have used the high-powered stolen cars to escape after robbing cash machines in crimes which earn them £900,000-a-year.

They are suspected of robbing seven cash machines last month alone.

Police are thought to have informed Ronaldo, who earns £250,000-a-week at Real Madrid, through his agent after the raid.

Last November Ronaldo was stunned after a neighbour in Madrid was arrested on suspicion of being one of the world's biggest drug barons.