The Guardia Civil have dismantled a criminal gang that stole eight tons of copper cable, based in Calasparra.
Among the crimes solved in this operation are the theft of copper cable from street lighting in Calasparra and Moratalla; telephone cable stolen in Cehegin and Socovos; cable from the water treatment plant in Pliego; cable from the Community of Farmers (Regantes) in Calasparra and Cieza; various thefts of money and jewelley from houses in Calasparra, Moratalla and Socovos and El Pardal-Molinicos.
The criminal gang was formed by nine people who are suspected of robberies using force, theft, damage to the environment and belonging to a criminal gang.
They are suspected of being connected to the theft of eight tons of copper cable from farms, public installations and private dwellings in the North West region of Murcia and the province of Albacete.
Two of the arrested were caught «en fraganti» when they were found burning copper cable in an abandoned warehouse in Calasparra.
The investigation has led to nine people, based in Calasparra, being identified, of which seven have been arrested and the other two are under investigation for more than a dozen robberies, theft, damage to the environment and membership of a criminal gang.
The gang operated in the early hours of the morning, moving around in rented vehicles, cutting cable, extracting it and loading it while other members were on watch.
Later the cable weas transferred to ravines or warehouses where the plastic covering was burned and the cable clean and ready for sale.
The Guardia Civil has recovered 32 kilos of copper, jewelry and different tools.
