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Three people have been arrested following a Guardia Civil investigation that dismantled a travelling criminal group suspected of stealing copper cable from multiple solar energy sites across Spain, including in Murcia and Alicante.

 

The suspects, based in Cuenca in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, are believed to be responsible for the theft of around 45 kilometres of copper wiring, with the total damage exceeding €100,000.

 

The investigation, known as Operation ‘Unipolar’, was launched as part of a national police operation against copper theft. It began when officers from the ROCA Team, a unit focused on rural crime, were alerted to the theft of more than 11,000 metres of cable from a solar plant in Calasparra, Murcia.

 

As the investigation progressed, Guardia Civil agents were able to link the theft to other similar crimes in Villena (Alicante), Manzanares (Ciudad Real), Chinchilla de Monte Aragón, Tarazona de la Mancha and Tobarra (Albacete), as well as Frechilla in Soria.

 

Key to the case was the identification of a right-hand drive van with British number plates that had reportedly been used in several of the robberies. Traced back to the town of El Provencio in Cuenca, the Vauxhall Vivaro (known as an Opel in continental Europe) aroused further suspicion due to its foreign registration, which was not listed in either Spain or the Schengen area.

 

The breakthrough came when a similar vehicle was intercepted by the Guardia Civil in Albacete. Although the occupants fled on foot, officers discovered tools inside the van typically used in cable thefts, including cutting shears, gloves, torches, pliers and a mobile phone. Investigators were eventually able to identify one of the individuals who had been travelling in the vehicle.

 

According to the Guardia Civil, the suspects operated as an itinerant group, travelling up to 500 kilometres from Cuenca to their targets. After stripping the copper cable from the solar power stations, they sold the material before returning home.

 

With the arrest of three individuals, the Guardia Civil has now solved 12 separate robberies carried out across five Spanish provinces. The operation highlights the increasing problem of copper theft in Spain just three weeks after stolen cables on railway lines in Toledo caused major travel disruption for an estimated 10,000 people.

 

Images: Guardia Civil