ATHENS, October 2026 — Police have arrested 19 people over a copper cable theft operation that allegedly stripped 25 kilometres of cable, worth more than €1 million, from a French company’s worksite in Paiania.
Officers carried out simultaneous raids in Attica and in Boeotia, north-west of Athens, after obtaining arrest warrants for all 19 suspects, police said.
The worksite lies in the Mesogeia area of East Attica, east of central Athens. However, police did not name the French company.
How the copper cable theft allegedly worked
Investigators believe the gang behind the copper cable theft entered the site at night and removed large quantities of copper cable over time.
The suspects then allegedly loaded the cable onto trucks they had also stolen. They drove the loads to isolated areas, police said.
There, they burned off the outer insulation to recover the copper, which they could then sell, investigators said. The length and value of the stolen cable are police estimates.
Security camera footage proved crucial to the case. In addition, investigators lifted telephone confidentiality to map the group’s activity and identify each suspect.
Arrests in Attica and Boeotia
Officers from the Paiania security police led the operation, with a judicial officer present. Two OPKE rapid-response police teams also took part.
The people arrested come from Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Bangladesh. Police have not released their names or ages.
Searches continued late on 20 October for other members of the alleged network, police said.
Copper cable theft has hit Greek infrastructure before. In August, thieves took telecom cables from a civil aviation facility.
Earlier, in December 2025, police arrested two men in Glyfada over copper taken from a power transformer.
Police will take the 19 suspects before a prosecutor. The Hellenic Police have not yet said what charges the suspects now face.
Source: Proto Thema
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