Euro Weekly News | Copper a copper-bottomed investment for thieves | Spain | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain: "EIGHT Romanians arrested in Barcelona were found with two tons of copper wire worth €6,000 s to scrap dealers prepared to pay cash and ask few questions. Ringleader Costel Gigel H was remanded but the remainder were charged and released although five had their passports confiscated to ensure they could not leave Spain before coming to trial.
The gang had stolen wire and cable on at least 10 occasions since May, police said, but although Cataluña sees many such robberies, they are not restricted to that region.
Between January and August, Endesa’s cables, substations and transformers in Andalucia were hit by 175 robberies compared to Cataluña’s 141, symptoms of the nationwide 40% increase in copper theft from the company since 2007.
Nor are electricity boards the only targets. In Cistella (Gerona) last summer, all the town’s phones were cut off seven times in the same month by copper thieves and Telefonica reported 330 robberies of cable in 139 Cataluña municipalities.
Traffic lights are another source and Florim O and Mohamed A were arrested mid September after tampering with lights in several Barcelona streets.
It was the former’s second arrest in 10 days, having been detained earlier when passers-by saw him removing cables from traffic light posts with scissors, pliers and a chisel.
The market for stolen copper answers demand from manufacturers in China, Brazil and Indonesia which the world’s principal copper mines in Chile, Bolivia, Russia and Canada struggle to satisfy."
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