Stolen tons of electric cables, sold scrap for more than 1.2 billion VND
Thanh Hoa Provincial Police have just arrested a group of people who stole a large quantity of electric cables and then sold them to the owner of a scrap metal collection facility.
On August 24, Thanh Hoa Provincial Police said that from January 2024 to mid-August 2024, dozens of cases of electric cable theft occurred in a number of urban residential project sites in Tan Phong town and Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong district).
The modus operandi of the subjects is extremely sophisticated and professional. They often choose premises with few households, few people passing by, no surveillance cameras... then take advantage of the darkness to use pliers, gloves, crowbars to commit crimes.
The arrested subjects 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 2 electric cable cutters and many copper cores that had been cut short by the subjects.
The subjects confessed that around January 2024, Luu invited Thanh to Tan Phong town and Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong district) to find residential project sites to steal underground power cables.
After stealing the electric cable, the two subjects contacted and sold it to Trinh Thi Thuy, the owner of a scrap purchasing facility in Tan Phong town, for 165,000 VND/kg.
From January 4 to June 18, Luu and Thanh stole underground power cables and sold them to Thuy 31 times, earning a total of more than VND1.2 billion (equivalent to more than 7 tons of copper).
Currently, the authorities are continuing to expand the investigation of the case.