The Civil Guard has arrested seven people for eleven counts of burglary at businesses in the provinces of Huesca, Zaragoza and Lleida, and at photovoltaic plants in Albacete and Toledo.
The ROCA Team of the Civil Guard Company of Fraga, in collaboration with the ROCA Team of the Civil Guard Company of Illescas (Toledo) and the National Police Station of the town of Albacete, within the framework of OP. VIROAGA, proceeded to arrest seven people as alleged perpetrators of a continuous crime of eleven robberies with force of copper, another of robbery/theft of use of vehicle and another of belonging to a criminal group, which occurred inside companies located in the regions of Bajo Cinca, Ribera Baja del Ebro (Zaragoza), Segriá (Lérida) and two photovoltaic plants in the provinces of Toledo and Albacete, thus dismantling this criminal organization.
At the beginning of May, reports filed with the Civil Guard station in Fraga revealed that several unknown individuals had broken into five companies in the Bajo Cinca region by climbing or forcing the locks, stealing copper coils. It was also learned that similar incidents had occurred around the same time at a cooperative in the Segrià region (Lleida) and at two companies in the Ribera Baja del Ebro region (Zaragoza). Furthermore, at the end of the month, one of the companies in the Bajo Cinca region suffered another copper coil theft. All these robberies were committed using the same modus operandi: the perpetrators gained entry by climbing, forcing the locks, or breaking through the perimeter fence.
The ROCA Team of the Civil Guard Company of Fraga took charge of the investigation into the events. After carrying out inquiries and collecting evidence and traces found, they were able to locate and identify the alleged perpetrators. In collaboration with the ROCA Team of the Illescas Company (Toledo) and the National Police Station in Albacete, they also discovered that the perpetrators were linked to three copper thefts from three photovoltaic plants in the provinces of Albacete and Toledo. The ROCA Team of the Illescas Company (Toledo) assumed the investigation of these latter thefts, building upon the police investigation already opened by the ROCA Team of the Illescas Company, and receiving their support and advice.
During the investigation, officers discovered that the alleged perpetrators operated as an organized group, primarily at night and in the early hours of the morning on weekends and holidays. They also used a support vehicle to transport the stolen goods.
Finally, between the first week of July and the middle of July, agents of the ROCA Team, supported by USESIC of the Madrid Civil Guard Command, proceeded in the town of Rivas-Vaciamadrid (Madrid), to arrest seven people, as possible perpetrators of eleven crimes of robbery with force, one crime of robbery/theft of use of vehicle and another of belonging to a criminal group, being six men and one woman, aged between 19 and 41 years, all residents of Cañada Real (Madrid).
The total amount of copper stolen is approximately 85.000 kg, with its value and the value of the damages caused amounting to around €922.000. The ROCA Team of the Civil Guard Company of Fraga prepared the corresponding reports, which, along with the detainees, were sent to the Court of First Instance Nos. 1 and 3 of Arganda del Rey, and to the Court of First Instance No. 1 of Fraga. The Judicial Authority ordered provisional imprisonment for one of the detainees and released the rest on bail.
