The crime was persistent, and the CCTV did not miss a moment

Gang Stealing 83 Tons of Copper Collected Over 15 Years... 5 Arrested
Stole Again After First Crime... Planning Third Crime During Investigation

Copper theft crime scene captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage [Paju Police Station]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] A gang that stole copper worth billions of won from a factory after quitting to repay gambling debts was caught by the police.

The Gyeonggi Paju Police Station announced on the 28th, "We have arrested A (34) and five accomplices on charges of special theft, and booked two others without detention."

The police also booked two people on charges of receiving stolen goods and two others on charges of mediating stolen goods.

The suspects, including A, are accused of repeatedly breaking into an electrical distribution panel factory in Paju City between August and September by cutting the factory entrance door with a cutter and stealing 83 tons of copper scrap (metal pieces left over from making metal products).

According to the police investigation, the suspects committed the crimes taking advantage of the weak security during early morning hours when there were no night shift workers at the factory.

In particular, before the crimes, they drew a rough map of the factory interior to identify the intrusion route, CCTV locations, escape routes, and how to respond if caught. They then used heavy equipment and large cargo trucks in the crimes.

According to the police, in the first crime (August 30), A and others sold the 83 tons of stolen copper scrap to a scrap dealer in Gwangmyeong City for 770 million won, but were caught by the police following a victim’s report, and all stolen goods were seized.

During this process, two members of the gang fled with 280 million won from the sales proceeds, while the police recovered the remaining 490 million won.

A, who was not detained, did not gain any profit and, upon learning that the police had stored the seized stolen goods at the victim’s factory, conspired again with the remaining accomplices to commit another crime.

On September 14 around 9 p.m., they attempted a second crime using the same method to steal the copper scrap stored at the factory, but were caught on CCTV installed by the victim following police advice, resulting in an attempted theft. One accomplice (intrusion team) was arrested in the act.

Even then, A, who was not caught by the police, was caught in the police investigation net while planning a third crime with the remaining accomplices.

A admitted to the charges during the police investigation and reportedly committed the crimes under pressure from failed stock investments and gambling debts.

The police caught A and his gang (11 people) after tracking them for over two months and are pursuing one accomplice who fled.

A had worked at the victim factory for about eight years before resigning in May, and the factory owner was found to have collected copper scrap for about 15 years.

A police official said, "There are many CCTV blind spots in sparsely populated areas, making them vulnerable to crime," and emphasized, "Since high-value raw materials or items that can be converted into cash can be targets of theft, security facilities must be strengthened to prevent crimes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.