Criminal organisation dismantled for theft of more than 15 tons of copper cable

A dozen people have been arrested and stolen copper cable has been seized.

The theft of the copper cable has occurred in the provinces of Cuenca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Albacete and Madrid, the Guardia Civil confirmed on Saturday, October 1.

The Guardia Civil arrested 12 people and is investigating another three for belonging to a criminal organization in the alleged theft of more than 15 tons of copper cable in the provinces of Cuenca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Albacete and Madrid.

In the operation, nearly a ton of stolen cable has been seized, approximately €2,000 in cash, clothes useful for camouflage and theft, several mobile phone terminals, documentation related to economic benefits, as well as the seizure of four high-end vehicles.

The operation began in December of last year, when the Guardia Civil learned of the theft of coils of copper cable, mainly from photovoltaic solar panel installations in La Manchuela, Cuenca.

Continuing with the investigations, the agents were able to verify how a series of coordinated people went to places previously established as meeting places to, later, undertake a trip to facilities in order to commit the robbery of specific material.

To do this, they used industrial vehicles similar to those used by labour contractors, or they camouflaged themselves with the workers’ own clothing.

Likewise, they previously studied the place where they were going to act, manipulate and drive the vehicles of the works, etc.

All this meant a very complex investigation for the Guardia Civil agents when it came to controlling the activities and movements of this group of people and discovering the places where the stolen material was introduced, to later pass it off as waste objects and obtain an economic benefit. 

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