Shantytown raid nets 100 tons of copper and 36 arrests

A dawn raid on the Madrid shantytown of El Gallinero on Tuesday resulted in the seizure of 103 metric tons of suspected stolen copper and the arrest of 36 people. A further 11 individuals under investigation are already in prison and authorities are searching for 40 further suspects. With the exception of eight Spaniards, all those arrested are Romanian nationals.

The operation, carried out by 250 civil guard officers and 50 vehicles, involved simultaneous strikes in El Gallinero, Yuncos (Toledo), the Madrid district of Villaverde and a Getafe machine shop, where the Spaniards were arrested and 100 tons of ground copper were seized. Three more tons were confiscated in El Gallinero.

With the price of copper having risen fromtwo eurosa kilo in January last year to just oversix eurosa kilo today, according to London Metal Exchange figures, the metal has become an increasingly attractive target for thieves.

Those arrested operated in vanloads of 20, targeting railway buildings in Andalusia. The copper cable they stole was taken to El Gallinero where its plastic covering was removed, before being taken to a scrapyard in Villaverde, where it was ground and mixed with that of legal origin. After that, it was taken to the Getafe machine shop to be further mixed and then sold.