The Mossos police have identified and arrested those responsible for the copper cable theft that on Sunday May 12th, during the election to the Parliament of Catalonia, caused chaos on the suburban Rodalies lines that lasted for many days. The thieves, repeat offenders and specialists in stealing copper cable, stole 120 metres of copper cable and have now been identified and arrested by a Mossos d'Esquadra criminal investigation division. Their capture is thanks to the action of security guards on Catalonia's FGC rail network, who on the morning of May 22nd, caught three people, two men and a woman, in the act of stealing copper cable. Once transferred by the Mossos to a police station, they were linked to other recent robberies, including the one at Montcada, just north of Barcelona city, which unleashed transport havoc on May 12th and the days that followed. A man who was responsible for receiving the stolen copper at a waste management company has also been arrested. Of the four people arrested, two have been remanded in prison and two have been released on bail.
In the case of the election-day theft, the Mossos' specialist unit in structural fires ruled out that it was sabotage - as Spanish transport minister Oscar Puente had insinuated - and the main investigative line being followed by the Mossos team was based on the likelihood that they were facing a criminal group specialized in copper cable theft. It was this line that bore fruit in the arrests of the four people: three men and a woman.
Six copper thefts in twenty days
Those arrested, who appeared in court this Friday, are believed to have carried out around twenty similar crimes, and are thought to have participated in at least six incidents linked to the theft of catenary copper on rail lines in Barcelona province. Among those arrested is the owner of the waste management company, who is linked to the criminal group, since he allegedly acted in connivance with those arrested when receiving the stolen material. This man has been accused of a continuous offence of receiving.
The Mossos d'Esquadra relate this group to six thefts of catenary copper wiring between May 1st and May 22 this year, the latter date being the incident in which two of them, a man and a woman, were intercepted in the metropolitan town of Esparreguera by private security guards working for Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) and the local police of the municipality, after a power cut which had affected rail traffic. The two people were taken to a police station and later arrested for their alleged relationship with other events that were also being investigated, including the Montcada station copper theft. On May 1st they stole copper cable in Mollet de Vallès, on May 10th they allegedly took catenary copper from the Barcelona-Montcada and Reixac train line, on May 12th was the major incident already described, on May 13th and 18th they stole copper during the night in Olesa de Montserrat, and on May 22nd, they attempted the theft in Esparreguera, and were caught.
Arrested: the receiver of the stolen copper
During the investigation, the police detected that the suspects always sold the copper to the same company, and the Mossos went to inspect it. The owner of the company twice refused inspections by the Mossos d'Esquadra, for which he was fined for non-compliance with the regulations, a short-term administrative sanction. The investigation made it possible to determine that those arrested had established an on-going relationship with this waste management company, and it was here that they placed the stolen material. In fact, the owner is considered part of the criminal group, as the Mossos d'Esquadra state in their investigation.
Each of the four detainees had different roles. One of the men, and the woman, aged 52 and 24 respectively, were responsible for committing the thefts. A third, 26 years old, had more executive functions, being the owner of one of the investigated vehicles and responsible for the dealings needed to get the stolen material to the receiver. Finally, there was the owner of the waste management company which received the stolen material. The thieves travelled in a van and another vehicle. They loaded the stolen copper into the van and used two poles to remove the overhead cable from the catenary structure. Once it was on the ground, they usually cut it using a rotary power tool.
The two material authors, in prison
This Friday, the four people arrested were brought before a duty court in the metropolitan town of Mollet del Vallès, over the various alleged copper thefts on rail lines. The judge decreed provisional prison for the two material perpetrators of the copper thefts, while the other two arrested - one with executive functions; the other, owner of the waste company - were released with the obligation to appear regularly in court. The case remains open, for alleged offences of aggravated theft and public disorder for the three arrested for the thefts, while the owner of the waste company is only charged with a crime of receiving stolen goods. The investigation of the case will continue in another Mollet court.