The Granada Policía Local arrested a man in the afternoon, on the last Thursday of September, suspected of being behind a wave of aircon-unit thefts  in the provincial capital during August.

Officers identified the 30-year-old man, who already had an arrest warrant on him, around at 17.30h that evening in the northern area of the capital, which is a dodgy area, to say the least. There have been numerous cases of the police having to escort municipal buses that cover the area because of attacks with stones.

Anyway, the thefts took place in several locations including: the offices of the neighbourhood association for the Parque Nueva Granada, in a centro de salud, in a bar, the Joaquina Eguaras Escuela de Baile and in at least one other premises.

The Policía Nacional confirmed that there had been five reports filed in the city regarding these incidents. They explained that the thieves’ objective is to tear the units apart to retrieve the copper coils inside the motors to sell later. They do the same with the casings at scrap yards.

Nor was this the only arrest made in the city for these thefts. Exactly one month earlier, the Policía Nacional caught the alleged perpetrator of several air-conditioner thefts red-handed. The individual had taken a unit from a hair salon and was moving it in a shopping trolley prior to loading it into his vehicle. 

The investigation determined that he was one of those responsible for the acts of thefts that took place in Campo Verde, Parque Nueva Granada (Distrito Norte), and Joaquina Eguaras (Beiro district). The arrested man was also implicated in another burglary at a centre for people with disabilities that occurred in mid-July.

Refrigeration pipes (the lines that connect the outdoor unit to the indoor unit) are made of pure copper. Furthermore, the motor coil itself contains metres of intertwined tubing also in copper. The thick power cables also contain valuable copper wiring. These are sold on the black market.

Copper has reached an all-time, high  price this year. Scrapyards have paid more than nine euros per kilo. This explains why several streets in the Northern District have been left without public lighting after the copper cables were stolen.

The Granada Policía Local arrested a man in the afternoon, on the last Thursday of last month, suspected of being behind a wave of aircon units in the provincial capital during August

Officers identified the 30-year-old man, who already had an arrest warrant on him at around at 17.30 that evening in the northern area of the capital, which is a dodgy area, to say the least. There have been numerous cases of the police having to escort municipal buses that cover the area because of attacks with stones.

Any, the thefts took place at the office of the neighbourhood association for the Parque Nueva Granada, in a centro de salud, in a bar, the Joaquina Eguaras Escuela de Baile and in at least one other premises.

The Policía Nacional confirmed there had been five reports filed in the city regarding these incidents. They explained that the thieves’ objective is to tear the units apart to retrieve the copper coils inside the motors to sell later. They do the same with the casings at scrap yards.

Nor was this the only arrest made in the city for these thefts. Exactly one month earlier, the Policía Nacional caught the alleged perpetrator of several air conditioner thefts red-handed. The individual had taken a unit from a hair salon and was moving it in a shopping cart prior to loading it into his vehicle.

The investigation determined that he was one of those responsible for the acts of vandalism that took place in Campo Verde, Parque Nueva Granada (Norte district), and Joaquina Eguaras (Beiro district). The arrested man was also implicated in another robbery at a centre for people with disabilities that occurred in mid-July.

Refrigeration pipes—the lines that connect the outdoor unit to the indoor unit—are made of pure copper. Furthermore, the motor coil itself contains metres of intertwined tubing of this material. The thick power cables also contain valuable copper filaments. These are sold on the black market.

Copper has reached an all-time price high this year. Scrap yards have paid more than nine euros per kilogram. This explains why several streets in the Northern District have been left without public lighting after the copper cables were stolen.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Aircon Units Targeted by Copper Thieves, Arrested, Shopping Trolley

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