The Spanish authorities have arrested 23 people and found 8.5 tons of stolen copper with a theft ring aimed at PV plants in Andalusia, Extremadura and ávila. The Civil Guard dismantled the network through Operation Kupfer, part of a broader performance against copper theft in the sun sector of the country.
The bourgeois guard of Spain dismantled a group that specializes in copper theft of solar plants in the southern regions of Andalusia and Extremadura.
Through Operation Kupfer – named after the German word for buyer – officers arrested 23 people and opened investigations into five others for burglary and receiving stolen goods. Authorities have found 21 tons of stolen materials: 7 tons of copper and 14 tons of other items with regard to solar installations, although no further details were provided.
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The arrests took place in the provinces of Sevilla and Badajoz. The group included scrap collectors, employees of Zonnefabriek and persons who were related to private security companies, which facilitated both the theft and the resale of stolen materials.
The civil protector handed over the prisoners and files to the judicial authority. The operation ended the activities of a network that had turned copper theft of photovoltaic factories into a profitable schedule, which had influenced a fast -growing sector in southwestern Spain.
Operation Kupfer follows Operation Plácaro, in which officers arrested nine people at the end of March and eight others investigated in connection with the theft of 1,600 kilograms of copper in the provinces of ávila and Valladolid.
This group of falsified documents to sell the stolen buyer to a recycling company in Madrid and is linked to illegal dumping in a protected ecological area along the Jarama River.
Operation Plácaro started in November after several robberies in a photovoltaic factory in Adanero (Ávila), where thieves used stolen farm machines to gain access to underground cable cars. Researchers discovered that a criminal organization that specializes in theft of copper wiring had orchestrated the attacks in several provinces.
Authorities attached the group to thefts at the Adanero and Langa Solar Plants (Ávila), three Duero hydrographic confederation pump stations and two electric substations in Simancas (Valladolid) and Narros del Castillo (ávila).
The group used hired vehicles to transport the material to Mejorada del Campo, Madrid, where they sold it to a recycling company.
According to the Civil Guard, the organization worked with a clear division of labor: five people carried out the theft and transport, two employees from the recycling company received and processed the material with the help of forged documentation, and an eighth person acted as an intermediary. The ninth participant, the manager of the company, was aware of the illegal activity. Authorities also investigate eight extra employees for their potential involvement.
Researchers concluded the operation on 10 and 12 March with an inspection of the recycling facility, where they collected evidence and seized 1,596 kg of copper wiring, which it was believed to be stolen.
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