08/16/2021 17:08
Clarín.com
Cities
Updated 08/16/2021 17:08
Tombs left without a name and coffins stripped of their crosses;
buildings that lose their door openers, doorknobs, and railings;
mutilated monuments, and thousands of neighbors affected by cuts in essential services, such as electricity or the Internet.
The
theft of metal objects in the City
has many consequences.
And the modality increased driven by the economic crisis, but also by the decrease in movement in the street that occurred during the months of stronger restrictions.
This crime has several faces.
On the one hand, it
is nourished by the need of some people
in vulnerable situations, who look for metal to obtain a few pesos to survive.
Although there are also unfaithful cemetery or maintenance employees in companies, for example, telecommunications, who have the opportunity and the elements to get hold of the metal on a larger scale.
But the looting of cables and metal objects, especially bronze (it is sold at an approximate average price of $ 1,000 per kilo), exists because there are businesses that buy them.
They are
the metalheads
.
The metals, the tariff and a closing sign in a shed that had stolen objects.
"I buy plastic, cardboard, steel, iron, copper, lead, aluminum", they advertise in their tickets.
They do not care about the origin of the items they receive.
Between February 18, 2020 and last August 12, the General Directorate of Operational Coordination, dependent on the City's Undersecretariat for Citizen Security, coordinated 82 inspections of commercial premises and warehouses that buy and sell metal,
37 of which they were closed
.
In addition, more than 150 records of infractions were drawn up for different irregularities.
Crucifixes from tombs kidnapped in an operation in a metal warehouse.
The operations were carried out by the City Police in conjunction with the Government Control Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Undersecretary of Labor, Safety and Hygiene and the City Police.
The closings were arranged because in those sheds they found fittings, taps, doorknobs, cadastral number plates and bronze pieces belonging to works of art located in squares, monuments and churches.
According to the Buenos Aires Undersecretariat of Citizen Security, all those articles were
of illegal origin
.
They also found
ornaments and crucifixes from vaults, tombs and coffins
, among other items stolen from cemeteries.
The mausoleum of Osvaldo Pugliese, in the Chacarita cemetery, suffered the theft of bronze plaques.
This is not surprising:
plaques of monuments and bronze pieces
from vaults and tombs
disappeared in the Chacarita cemetery
.
Among the plaques were that of the jockey Irineo Leguisamo and that of a cenotaph of Eva Duarte de Perón.
And some bronze pieces from the mausoleum of the master Osvaldo Pugliese also disappeared.
Nothing and nobody is saved.
In an operation, they discovered more than
120 kilos of copper and fiber optic cables
, the kind used by telecommunications companies.
There were even coils of wire with traces of having been burned to remove the metal.
They were in deposits of Constitution and Retirement.
The theft of copper and fiber optic cables increased.
They burn them and keep the metal.
At the beginning of the month, they inspected two metal companies, one located in Juan de Garay and Pichincha, on the border between San Cristóbal and Parque Patricios, and another in Moreno at 2100, Balvanera.
In total, they found
16 crucifixes, 21 handles, 4 bronze ornaments for cemetery tombs
, a tap and 2 cadastral number plates, all of illegal origin.
There were also coils of copper cables.
From handles and doorknobs to casket parts.
They were found in sheds in Balvanera and San Cristóbal.
In deposits of Mataderos and Villa Riachuelo they also discovered metals of doubtful origin.
Some had already been closed for this issue, but they
violated the closure and reopened
.
The crime of metal theft is
not always reported
.
Sometimes they are thefts that seem "minor": the theft of a front door handle, a doorbell.
However, sources from the Ministry of Justice and Security of the City explain that beyond the complaints that are made,
there is a good record of these cases through calls to 911
.
The victims or some witnesses communicate and each case is analyzed.
Meetings are also held with neighbors and companies that suffer cable theft.
The Undersecretary of Citizen Security, Juan Pablo Sassano, explains how the investigation into the metal theft is being carried out.
"We began to see that bronze was stolen from monuments, doorknobs, and electric doormen. Historically,
this always coincided with bad economic times
. People are looking for items that they can sell, but which are small things that they consider to be of less criminal value. But for the Penal Code, they are still robberies "he says.
An operative in a metal warehouse.
The first step, he details, was to make
a map of the crime
.
And with that information, they put up
electronic fences with cameras
that launched an alert if, for example, someone touched the fence of a monument.
Through the camera it was observed if there was a person trying to pass through the gate and, in that case, action was taken.
They also installed
cameras and lights in cemeteries
, where private security was increased.
As it turned out, they came to identify vaults that were used as deposits for items stolen from other tombs.
Objects were taken out of the cemetery at night, thrown over the walls.
At the same time, they count on Security, they
began to receive complaints about cable theft
.
"The most serious thing is that the theft of 20 meters of cable can leave hundreds or thousands of users without a service such as electricity or the Internet. And some of those affected are hospitals and schools. To replace the cable, no connections can be made and there are You have to change entire sections, 150 or 400 meters, "says Sassano.
Cable theft causes service outages.
In this case,
a heat map
was made
to determine
where the most cables were being stolen.
The places coincided with areas where there were several metal companies, such as Constitución.
In addition, when there were workers working on the street, they began to verify that their task corresponded with the repair records of the companies.
Thus they discovered that there were
"tricks" operatives
, who pretended to make arrangements when in reality they were stealing.
Some of these operators did work for companies, for example telecommunications, but they did an "extra" in the illegal metal market.
A market that recycles and mixes different types of metals to feed a much larger industry.
Look also
Due to the robberies in the Chacarita cemetery, there are tombs and vaults that are left without identity
Hunting for bronze: from doorbells and doorbells to pieces of heritage value are stolen