Organised Mazarron gang steals 300,000 euros worth of electrical power cable

The Guardia Civil of the Region of Murcia arrest eight members of a gang from Mazarrón as alleged perpetrators of 54 robberies of power lines

An ongoing investigation codenamed Operation 'Cooper 23' into the theft of electrical cable has resulted in the arrest of eight members of a gang from Mazarrón who are the alleged perpetrators of 54 robberies of power lines in the Guadalentín area.

The gang have so far been charged with the theft of cabling in the Lorca areas of La Hoya, Aguaderas, Purias, Nogalte, Río, Tercia and Cazalla, and the districts of Puerto Lumbreras de la Estación del Esparragal, Goñar and Puerto Adentro. As reported by the Guardia Civil in a statement, the investigation remains open and further arrests not ruled out.

The investigations revealed that the robberies were committed in small population centres and urbanisations, located in isolated places difficult to access where there were no surveillance cameras and the possibility of witnesses was scarce. The Guardia Civil carried out visual inspections at the points where the cable had been extracted and collected information from the company providing the power to ascertain the days when the network had been interrupted and the estimated value of the damage.

All this allowed the investigating officers to establish the 'modus operandi' used to carry out the robberies. They suspect the theft was carried out by an organised group who are experienced in the theft of copper and which had focused its criminal activity in the Guadalentín area, which includes the Camposol urbanisation.

According to the investigation, after planning the thefts over a period of time, the gang acted at night and used tools such as clippers and saws, manipulating rubber coatings to hinder the conduction of electricity and tampering with junction boxes to avoid an electric arc that can cause explosions or start fires when cutting the cable.

At around the same time as these thefts were taking place, Mazarrón Council technicians found evidence on the Camposol urbanisation of cut and stolen electrical cable. Whether this gang were responsible may be discovered during the ongoing inquiries being made into the group’s activities.

During numerous inspections carried out by the Guardia Civil into establishments that deal in the purchase and sale of metallic material in the area, several discoveries were made pointing to the practice that small sections of copper changed hands so as not to raise suspicion. These turned out to come from the sabotaged power lines and amounted to sales of more than 80,000 euros. This allowed the Guardia Civil to identify some of the suspects and connections to known links, all of them residents of Mazarrón.

The result of the investigation was brought to the attention of the judicial authority, who granted the corresponding warrant of entry and search for the home of the main suspect, leading to the arrest of the eight suspects. All detainees have appeared at the Court of Instruction number 1 in Totana.

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