2023-06-27 10:37:00
Water and electricity services have been affected in the region by a string of robberies that have caused serious damage to users in Río Negro. This year alone, the company Edersa calculated an economic loss of $130 million for the theft of low voltage cables (around 10,000 meters), medium voltage cables (around 5,000) and transformers.
In addition, in recent months there has been an increase in the theft of water meters, leaving residents without supply, who have been forced to pay the cost of these devices.
The penal code establishes that this type of crime is classified as thefts if violence is not used on people or force to extract things. If violence or force is used in any way, the figure changes from theft to robbery.
From Edersa they reported that cable thefts are not new, but since December 2021 they have become a really serious problem.
The most important thing to note is that when theft or vandalization of facilities occurs, an enormous risk is generated in terms of security, for criminals, for the residents of the area and for public safety in general.
The criminals look for the bronze in the water meters to sell it in the market. Photo John Thomes
they look for copper
A neighborhood can be left without electricity for up to 10 hours due to the vandalization of a power transformer. The thieves are interested in the copper heart inside, which weighs between 80 and 120 kilos and sells for more than $2,000 per kilo. They often prefer to steal a transformer than hundreds of meters of cable, the company pointed out.
Since the beginning of 2022, around 120 transformers have been stolen throughout the province, with one fundamental fact: More than 90% of the events occurred in the corridor that goes from Allen to Chichinales, most of them in rural areas.
In Allen, for example, from the end of 2021 to date Edersa had to replace 48 transformers, 10 of them throughout the current year.
What is striking regarding the case is that the theft of transformers, in just over a month, they “moved” to Cervantes. There, between May 9 and 17 of this month, there were no less than 11 thefts of power machines.
There are scenarios where cable and transformer thefts are repeated on a daily basis, such as the rural area of Cervantes; Allen’s chakras as No. 32; and the sector of Villa Regina known as “Curva del Chancho”.
Import
In addition to all that has been said, there is another huge drawback and that is that due to the current restrictions on imports, the market has also restricted the delivery of materials and especially transformers. So, having already consumed almost all the stock, it becomes very difficult to replenish once morest theft. There will come a time, not so far away, when it will not be possible to do it due to lack of machines.
From the company they indicated that “we already made this known to some authorities, such as the mayor of Cervantes, Claudia Montanaro.”
“We have met with police, justice, mayors and also provincial authorities, presenting Edersa’s concern in the face of a problem that is getting bigger and bigger. They work together for prevention, but the reality is that it has become very difficult to channel the scourge. Of course, we know that thefts exist because there is someone who buys what is stolen, and that is where we should attack, “they communicated.
Replacing equipment costs millions.
The bronze
Regarding the theft of meters that also affects hundreds of users in the region, the interest of criminals is another metal that is traded in the market.
The thieves take no more than two minutes, first walking around the block lifting the covers of the meters, cutting the ends of the hoses that carry the water to the residence and quickly escaping with the equipment. The reason for the theft is to sell the bronze that is inside the meter.
These events have been recorded in the Alto Valle as Roca, Cipolletti and also similar crimes in the Viedma area.
The user must pay to replace the equipment
The theft of meters and pumps generates serious damage to neighbors, not only due to the cut in service. Only a few months ago the cost to replace the meter exceeded $20 thousand. The user is the one who must pay for this.
The problem is that since the devices are located on the sidewalk, there is always the risk of criminals taking the meters.
While the theft of water pumps has caused many complications to institutions or houses that use this equipment to provide the service.
Only in April of this year at the Club Deportivo Roca, a couple of thieves on a motorcycle took the pump that distributed drinking water “in the confectionery, the hostel, the School 150, the swimming space, changing rooms and the entire sector administrative”.
The most curious thing is that two weeks before the same equipment had also been robbed.
On Saturday the 17th of this month, a subject who had an arrest warrant was arrested while he was stealing water meters in the northern area of Roca.
When the uniformed officers arrived, they found a man who met the same characteristics that the neighbors had provided by phone.
The troops following reviewing it found a nylon bag with four water meters with signs of having been cut from their connections and a serrated knife.
In addition, when they reviewed his data in the system, it was detected that he had an arrest warrant for default.
In December of last year and in a single night, a band rose up with 35 meters in the entire area surrounding the Unter de Roca neighborhood, causing the loss of thousands and thousands of liters of water.
The events then continued in the Las Bardas neighborhood and in the Nuevo neighborhood and Tiro Federal area.
In Viedma, the theft of the water pump from the Municipal Cemetery and iron covers from the Puente Viejo and Canal Montenegro pumping stations were also reported this year.
Most of the crimes were once morest private property
According to the annual statistical report of the Judiciary of Río Negro, last year the types of crimes entered by the Public Ministry were 4,761 throughout the province.
The report details that there is a clear preponderance of crimes once morest property (39%), followed by crimes once morest people and once morest sexual integrity (both represent 14%).
Los robberies and thefts are included in crimes once morest property. From the judicial office they indicated that the theft of meters, cables or transformers will be considered a theft if violence is not used on people or to extract things.
If violence is used or force is used in any way, the figure changes from theft to robbery. That is the first important difference. Then, robberies and thefts may have aggravating factors that add to the amount of the eventual sentence.
Regarding the theft the article 162 of the Penal Code of the Argentine Nation states that “it will be punished with imprisonment from one month to two years, the one who illegally seizes a movable thing, totally or partially belonging to another person”.
Meanwhile he Article 164 that refers to theft establishes that “it will be punished with imprisonment from one month to six years, whoever unlawfully seizes a movable property, totally or partially belonging to another, with force on things or with physical violence on people, whether the violence takes place before the theft to facilitate it, in the act of committing it or following it was committed to seek their impunity”.
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