They stole tons of electrical cables and sold them as scrap metal for over 1.2 billion VND.
Police in Thanh Hoa province have arrested a group of suspects who stole a large quantity of electrical cables and then sold them to a scrap metal buyer.
On August 24th, the Thanh Hoa Provincial Police announced that from January 2024 to mid-August 2024, dozens of incidents of electrical cable theft occurred consecutively at several urban residential project sites in Tan Phong town and Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong district).
The perpetrators' methods are extremely sophisticated and professional. They often choose locations with few households, low foot traffic, and no surveillance cameras… then, under the cover of darkness, they use pliers, gloves, and crowbars to commit their crimes.
The arrested individuals include: Le Van Luu (born in 1995), Tran Van Thanh (born in 1992, both residing in Yen Lac commune, Yen Dinh district) and Trinh Thi Thuy (born in 1982, residing in Tan Phong town, Quang Xuong district).
Authorities seized evidence including two wire cutters and several lengths of copper core that had been cut short by the suspects.
The suspects confessed that around January 2024, Luu invited Thanh to go to Tan Phong town and Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong district) to look for residential project sites to cut and steal underground power cables.
After stealing the electrical cables, the two suspects contacted and sold them to Trinh Thi Thuy, the owner of a scrap metal purchasing facility in Tan Phong town, for 165,000 VND/kg.
Between January 4th and June 18th alone, Luu and Thanh stole underground electrical cables and sold them to Thuy 31 times, receiving a total of over 1.2 billion VND (equivalent to more than 7 tons of copper).
Authorities are currently expanding their investigation into the case.
