Four people arrested after copper theft in Rodalies commuter train network

The Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra police have arrested four people and broken up an alleged criminal group for their alleged relation with the copper theft in the Rodalies commuter train network on May 12.

Two of the detainees were held in pre-trial detention, while the other two were released with an order to appear in court.

The event took place in the Montcada i Bifurcació train station, north of Barcelona, on the Catalan election day and caused major disruptions across the whole network, halting service in Barcelona in many lines. 

Three men and one woman were arrested. All of them are persistent offenders with around 20 previous alleged crimes.

Among the arrested there is the owner of a residue company who is related to the group for allegedly working with the other detainees to receive and manage the stolen material.

Police link the four detainees with six copper thefts that took place between May 1 and May 22.

On that day, one of the men and the woman were stopped by Esparreguera local police and security members of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) commuter train service after recording an electric disruption.

Police arrested the two people for their alleged connection with other events under investigation, including the ones on Election Day.

The other two people were arrested on Thursday in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda and in Sabadell, both near Barcelona.

Most copper thefts on Spanish government rail lines

Catalonia is the region in Spain with the highest number of copper thefts on railway lines. In the first quarter of the year, 46 incidents were recorded, 32 of them in Barcelona alone.

Most of the copper thefts occur on the Rodalies lines. Last year, 240 copper thefts occurred on the Rodalies lines, while 16 occurred on FGC lines. 

Although the total number of kilometers of Rodalies lines is much greater than that of FGC, the Spanish state-owned lines have 184 incidents per 1,000 kilometers, while the Catalan lines have 29 incidents per 1,000 kilometers.

Upgrade surveillance

The Mossos police upgraded the level of surveillance of the Special Operational Plan for Metal (POE) throughout Catalonia, raising it from level 1 to 2, as explained on Thursday by police commissioner Rafel Comas.

Until now, only the regions near Barcelona and Tarragona were in level 2, as these areas saw the most wire thefts. 

Among the new measures being promoted by the police are more pressure on criminals, more preventive traffic checks, and more police intelligence. The law enforcement agency hopes to improve real-time communication with rail operators, increase visual control of the tracks, and increase traffic and helicopter control.