Five arrested in agricultural equipment robberies

(Photo: Guardia Civil)

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR The Guardia Civil has noted a considerable increase in robberies from farms and other agricultural enterprises in the area, as well as in that of copper cables and diesel oil. This is principally in the municipalities of San Roque and Jimena, where five people were arrested when suspicions were aroused by the presence of vehicles not usually seen near farms in the area. They were followed to the entrance to a scrap yard near San Roque, where they were stopped. Uncovered in the vehicles were lengths of copper cable, pumps and tanks full of diesel oil. Further investigation linked the five to>>>some serious burglaries. In some cases they had knocked down high tension electricity towers and taken the transformers, leaving local homes without power, but they also severely damaged sheds and storage facilities, which they entered by breaking down the doors. At one scene they had stolen the batteries and antennae router, thus leaving mobile phone users without communication for days. Two homes in San Martín del Tesorillo were discovered to contain a significant amount of stolen material, including two transformers. The five men, residents of Jimena or La Línea are all 'at the disposal of the courts'.