Police arrest four in wide-scale copper thefts

An investigation team of the police has completed the investigation into large scale copper thefts. Four suspects have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a large number of thefts from the buildings of various high voltage substations in the eastern Netherlands. The special investigation team was formed early in 2014 in consultation with the Public Prosecutor. This decision was made following a large number of burglaries at grid substations in the eastern part of the country in 2013. Mostly copper material was stolen during the burglaries. A 47 year old man was arrested in July in Arnhem. Recently three more arrests have been made, two men from Arnhem (20 and 25 years old) and an 18 year old accomplice. The investigations team suspects the accused of nineteen burglaries in high voltage substations. The investigation also revealed that the suspects could be linked to a burglary at a sand mining company in the Achterhoek, where copper was also stolen.