The works are the drawings "Els Pagesos" and "Les sardanes de la festa major", made by Dalí in 1922, following a commission made to the artist for the illustration of a book that was never published.

The works were taken in January last year from a Barcelona home by three brothers in their 50s, 53s and 55s who were dedicated to robbing luxury villas in the Catalan capital.

The thief's were intending to take money, jewellery and other valuables, not being focused on works of art, which threw the police investigation, as they initially thought that Dalí's drawings had been stolen by a collector or dealer of works of art, according to the Police of Catalonia.

The clue to Dalí's drawings, which had been searched by authorities on the usual circuits of the art trade, arrived through a person who contacted the police to offer information on the whereabouts of the works for money.

This person had been contacted by the brothers who stole the works, who proposed to purchase the drawings. He was eventually detained by the police and it was through them that investigators began to follow the three brothers, with the aim of reaching the stolen works.

The perpetrators of the theft contacted several potential buyers of Dalí's works and received expressions of interest from a person in Portugal, but the deal did not go ahead, police said.

Without even realising where the works were, three months later, the police eventually arrested the three brothers because they were about to "continue with the robberies and this could not be allowed," José González, head of Catalonia's police historical heritage unit, explained at a press conference.

When questioned, the three detainees gave no clues about Dalí's works, which were eventually located in a warehouse to which the police arrived through an entry opening code that was in a message stored on a mobile phone seized from the criminal brothers.

The current owners of the two drawings are the descendants of Catalan lawyer, writer and politician Pere Coromines, who was friends with Salvador Dalí's father. It was Pere Coromines himself who commissioned the works from the artist, then 19 years old.

The works were intended to illustrate a book that was never published, but the two charcoal drawings were kept by the family and were framed in the house of Montserrat Herrera, granddaughter of Pere Coromines, until they were stolen in January last year.

After being located, seven experts from the Dalí Foundation certified the authenticity of the drawings.

Among the objects found in the same warehouse by the police were also five "graphic works" of Joan Miró, whose authenticity was not, however, still certified.

The investigation was already completed in the summer of last year, but only today did the police reveal the result at a press conference.