Metals theft rearing its head in Colombia

The theft of copper wire and cable is beginning to have a noticeable effect on the communication infrastructure in Medellín, Colombia, according to an online report from that city.

The Medellín-based ColombiaReports.com website says a growing “illegal copper trade” in that nation has prompted concerns at broadband company Tigo Une. That firm, also based in Medellín, is reporting a 438 percent increase in “theft of its infrastructure, primarily copper cables, over the past year,” according to the website.

Tigo Une calculates the ongoing theft of copper has cost it nearly $830,000 in the first half of 2020. ColombiaReports.com says the situation also risks “grinding communication in Colombia’s second-largest city to a halt,” according to Tigo Une.

The online article quotes Tigo Une President Marcelo Cataldo as saying, “The issue is getting worse because of the repetition. They rob us, we replace the material and within a matter of hours, another robbery is registered.”

The communication firm estimates thieves have made off with nearly 75,000 meters (245,000 feet) of cable between January and October this year. Nearly 80 percent of these robberies took place in the city of Medellín, according to Tigo Une.

An economy in recession from COVID-19 impacts receives part of the blame, according to a Tigo Une spokesperson reached by ColombiaReports.com. “However, professional copper thieves had already stepped up the stealing of cables years before the crisis, implying the involvement of organized crime,” adds the media outlet.

The Tigo Une president sees scrap export markets as being involved in the widespread theft, and he claims copper export figures in Colombia this year are exceeding by “multiple times” the amount of copper mined in Colombia.

Adds ColombiaReports.com, “Although Colombia does not have large copper mines, it exports approximately 50,000 tons of copper annually. Other studies indicate that the country produces about 10,000 tons [of mined copper] each year.”