The Guardia Civil arrested four people in Órgiva; three men and a woman, aged between twenty-seven and fifty, as part of Operation Cobre Kay Alpujarra.

All are suspected of theft. One of the men has also been arrested for arson and creating a public disorder in which the woman was also allegedly involved.

A police investigation carried out by the Guardia Civil in Lanjarón had learnt of the theft of telephone wires/cable through several complaints from those affected in Lanjarón and towns in the Alpujarra area.

The police also found discarded insulation from the stolen lengths of wire lying on the street and at the entrances to buildings and in several rubbish hoppers.

A total of 7,186 metres of copper, telephone wire had gone missing along several sections of the A-348 and the A-4132 within the municipality of Órgiva. This total includes damaged sections left hanging from the posts.

The thieves had burnt the cable amongst parked cars in order to remove much of the insulations, putting the vehicles in danger of being damaged by the heat and flames

The alleged perpetrators, all of whom were related to each other, cooperated to cut down the cable from the posts, separate the cable insulation by burning it off and then selling it as scrap in several scrapyards within the province. It was always sold in small quantaties to avoid suspicion.

The arrested suspects appeared before a police court in Órgiva and were released pending trial. In the meantime, the Guardia Civil are keeping the investigation open and have not ruled out further arrests.

(News: Lanjaron/Orgiva, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Copper Cable Theft, Telephone lines, Isulation, Arson, Guardia Civil, Arrests, Suspects

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