The Mossos d’Esquadra announced this Friday the arrest of four people, whom they accuse of being linked to six catenary thefts, including the one that paralyzed the Renfe Rodalies network on May 12 in Catalonia. The Catalan police, who have always ruled out sabotage, assure that they are repeat thieves, with around twenty records of similar crimes. Among them is the owner of a waste recovery company, who twice refused to facilitate police inspections. Those arrested have already been brought to justice, accused of the crimes of public disorder, involuntary havoc and reception.
The agents were already on the trail of the group, three men and a woman, for this type of robbery on the Adif network of the Barcelona-Montcada line. When the theft occurred in Montcada Bifurcació on the day of the Catalan elections, which caused a chain reaction, with several fires, that paralyzed the Rodalies line, the police immediately considered them suspicious. The arrests were precipitated last Wednesday, when some private security guards from Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat surprised two of them stealing: a task carried out by a 52-year-old man and a 24-year-old girl. The next day, the police arrested to the other two involved in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda and Sabadell, one in charge of the logistics of the vehicles, and the recoverer, who they already had in their sights. In total, they are accused of six robberies committed between May 1 and 22.
The businessman is, according to the police, a key piece in the network. “He acted in collusion with the detainees when receiving the stolen material,” explains the Catalan police through a press release. The agents have already sanctioned the man for his refusal to pass two inspections to which they tried to subject the company during the period in which they were investigating the copper thefts. And they insist that the thieves had “a constant relationship with this company where they placed the stolen material.” The Mossos include him in the structure of the criminal group.
Those investigated are accused of a catenary theft on May 1 in Mollet del Vallès, another on the 10th in the Barcelona-Montcada network, that of May 12 in Montcada Bifucarció, another one the following day in Olesa de Montserrat, which It is repeated on May 18, and finally the coup in Esparreguera in which they are surprised. The suspects moved in a van and by car, and used two hangers to take down the cable. Once on the ground, they cut it with radials and fled the scene. Thefts on Adif lines have grown more than 30% in the last year. The last episode ended in a confrontation between the Ministry of Transport, which spoke of sabotage and accused the Mossos of not doing their job, and the Generalitat, which accused them of neglecting their railway network in Catalonia.
The police announced on Thursday a reinforcement to combat the theft of copper, which has increased its price in the market to reach 9.5 euros per kilo. The intention is to obtain restraining orders for repeat thieves. They also announced more uniformed and drone patrols, more traffic controls on the roads, and more investigations. Likewise, they warned that they would increase inspections of recoverers, and asked for greater traceability of copper, to be able to demonstrate its stolen origin.
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