Metal theft is "the theft of items for the value of their constituent metals". Metal theft is an emerging global crime problem effecting residential, commercial, and industrial properties. It usually increases when worldwide prices for scrap metal rise, as has happened dramatically due to rapid industrialization in India and China. Apart from precious metals like gold and silver, the metals most commonly stolen are non-ferrous metals such as copper, aluminium, brass, and bronze. However, even cast iron and steel are seeing higher rates of theft due to increased scrap metal prices.
One defining characteristic of metal theft is the motivation. Whereas other items are generally stolen for their extrinsic value, items involved in metal theft are stolen for their intrinsic value as raw material or commodities. Thefts often have negative consequences much greater than the value of the metal stolen, such as the destruction of valuable statues, power interruptions, and the disruption of railway traffic, or the thieves in question becoming a path to ground, resulting in electrocution.
Items often stolen Anything made of metal has value as scrap metal, and can be stolen: Manhole covers Copper wiring, or copper pipes from houses or other buildings Utility company electrical wiring (especially power cables) and transformers Aluminium or stainless steel beer kegs Bronze or brass statues, monuments, and commemorative plaques Catalytic converters from motor vehicles (they contain precious metals) Air conditioner units Rails from train tracks Metal crosses and other ornaments from cemeteries Cathode copper A 2007 United States Department of Energy study reported that law enforcement believed many copper thefts from electric utilities in warmer urban locations like San Diego, California, and Tampa, Florida, were committed without the use of vehicles by vagrants.
Motivations for theft
Scrap metal has drastically increased in price over recent years. In 2001, ferrous scrap sold for $77 a ton, increasing to $300 per ton by 2004. In 2008, it hit nearly $500 per ton.
Some elected officials and law enforcement officials have concluded that many metal thefts are by drug addicts stealing metal in order to fund their addictions. Some officials believe that many of these drug-related metal thefts are caused by methamphetamine users; however, this varies by the location of the metal being stolen. Another explanation for the phenomenon is the unusually high price of non-ferrous metals coupled with elevated levels of unemployment. Geographic patterns also motivate metal thefts, as weak laws or surveillance of materials make the crime easier. Regardless of the reason, the industrialization of developing nations helps to increase the demand for scrap metal.
Some researchers suggest that metal theft motivation is split between opportunistic criminals and organized networks based on geography and patterns of time. Insecure infrastructures lead to targeted locations, often repeated locations and offenders. Offender profiles play a significant role in victimization of metal thefts as well; organized group theft and self-sustaining criminals have different motivations and behaviors. These distinctions between criminal groups lead some researchers to suggest different classifications instead of a single group.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, world market prices for metals like copper, aluminium, and platinum dropped steeply. Although there is anecdotal evidence that this price decrease has led to fewer metal thefts, strong empirical research on the exact nature of the relationship between commodity prices and metal thefts is still lacking. Some have argued that the "genie is out of the bottle" now and drops in commodity prices will not result in corresponding drops in thefts. In fact, it is possible that thefts may actually increase to compensate for the loss in value.
As of December 2014 according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau the number of insurance claims for metal theft has been decreasing in the U.S possibly because of dropping scrap metal prices.
Economic impact in the United States alone, metal theft costs the economy $1 billion annually, according to Department of Energy estimates. As of 2008 It was estimated that South Africa lost approximately 5 billion Rand annually due to metal theft. In 2022, metal theft cost the United Kingdom an estimated £480 million. Thieves often cause damage far in excess of the value they recover by selling stolen metal as scrap. For example, thieves who strip copper plumbing and electrical wiring from houses render the residences uninhabitable without expensive, time-consuming repairs.
Prevention
Requiring scrap metal buyers to record the photo IDs of scrap metal sellers, and recording scrap metal transactions may reduce the rate of metal theft. Paying scrap metal sellers by check rather than cash may reduce the rate of metal theft, and leaves records that can be investigated by police. Scrap merchants may refuse to accept certain commonly-stolen items, such as manhole covers, street signs, air-conditioning units, and railroad track components, unless the seller can prove legitimate ownership. Restrictions on some items have also been codified into law. Utility companies who are often the targets of metal theft can electroplate coding on to copper wire, which can positively identify the wire as stolen even if the insulation is burned off.
Notable metal thefts and law enforcement efforts by country
Australia In Australia in 2008, 8 tonnes of copper wiring, believed to be stolen from a variety of locations including rail tracks, power stations and scrap metal depots, was seized on its way to the Asian black market.
Austria
In November 2011 an unknown perpetrator attempted copper theft by hand sawing a live electric line in a Vienna subway tunnel. A fire arose; train traffic was stopped. The thief was likely injured in the process.
In May 2013 the Westbahn near Amstetten had to be closed for safety reasons; grounding copper wires had been stolen; The copper stolen was worth €2,000, but total damages to the station cost upwards of €30,000.
In July 2013 in Lower Austria () of copper wire worth less than €1,000 was stolen from a railway transformer station. The damage to the railways electronics cost €140,000.
In November 2015 a man burnt to death in Vienna in an empty building which had a 100 kV cable going through the basement. The police found three people alive and assumed they had been attempting to steal copper.
In May 2016, police caught several people that had stolen several tons of copper wire from a substation and caused €400,000 worth of damage in Lower Austria.
Canada In Quebec, during May 2006, thieves stole sections of copper roofing, gutters and wiring from four Quebec City churches, two being St. Charles de Limoilou and St. Francois d'Assise. The thieves were discovered in action on their third night, whereupon they fled. High copper prices are believed to be the reason for the thefts. Repairs were expected to cost more than $40,000.
In October 2010, a bronze bell was stolen in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. Thieves removed the bell from a monument in Roseway Cemetery. The bell was part of the Roseway United Memorial Church, built in 1912, until it was demolished in 1993. It was recovered in a Halifax-area scrapyard October 6, 2010.
In September 2011, Peterborough, Ontario, experienced a four-hour power outage north of the city when thieves stole power transmission wires.
Czech Republic 327 bronze markers stolen from Theresienstadt concentration camp cemetery in mid-April 2008, with 700 more stolen the next week. A scrap metal dealer was arrested on April 18, 2008. He intended to melt them down for their copper.
In April 2012, a ten-tonne railway bridge and of railway trackage in the town of Horní Slavkov in the Karlovy Vary Region was dismantled and removed by a gang of thieves who presented forged papers saying that the bridge had been condemned. The bridge was erected in 1901.
France The French railway network company RFF face regular thefts of metal that affect the operation of the trains.
Germany In February 2006, near the German city of Weimar, thieves dismantled and carted away some of disused rail track, causing at least 200,000 euros worth of damage. In June 2012, a badly burned man was found alive on the side of a road in Wilhelmsburg. The man was believed to be part of a group of suspects stealing overhead contact wire from a nearby railway. of copper cable had been torn down before the accident occurred and the theft was aborted. In April 2016, a cast bronze owl was stolen from the grave of a two-year-old child in Rommerkirchen. The €800 sculpture far exceeds the €20 scrap value.
Haiti In Haiti, after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, some looters were reported to be removing rebar from the concrete of collapsed buildings in order to sell it. Others hacked up downed power lines.
India In the city of Kolkata, India, more than 10,000 manhole covers were taken in two months. These were replaced with concrete covers, but these were also stolen, this time for the rebar inside them.
Indonesia
In 2016, the sewers in Medan Merdeka avenue near National Monument, Central Jakarta, was discovered had been clogged with 10 truck loads of rubber-PVC cable jacket, causing flood in the area. Then it was discovered that the cables belongs to PT Telkom or PT PLN, state-owned telecommunication and electricity provider. The cable jacket was left clogging the sewer, while the metal thieves stole the inner copper wires.
Several war graves in the Java Sea were discovered to have been allegedly removed by Chinese metal scavengers. The wrecks of , , and had been totally removed. A sizable portion of was also scavenged.
The wrecks of , , and were also missing.
There has been a rising concern that other war graves in the Java Sea and surrounding seas are at risk of desecration by Chinese metal scavengers.
Netherlands On 11 January 2011, the theft of of copper cable caused an ICE train to derail near the Dutch city of Zevenaar. Nobody was harmed.
Russia In 2001, thieves in Khabarovsk Krai stole electric and telephone lines leading to military bases there. A small bridge was stolen in Russia in 2007, when a man chopped up its 5-meter span and hauled it away.
South Africa
Metal theft in South Africa is rampant, with an estimated R5 billion per annum lost due to the theft. The stolen metal ranges from copper cables, piping, bolts to manhole covers. The theft continuously disrupts and degrades services, such as the power supply provided by Eskom and the telecommunication services by Telkom. Eskom estimated that the theft has cost the company about R25 million per annum, with incidents increasing from 446 incidents in 2005; 1,059 in 2007 and 1,914 in 2008. The theft has cost Telkom R863 million (April 2007 – January 2008 period). Despite the minimal copper reserve South Africa has, as much as 3000 tonnes of copper leave Cape Town harbour every month. Aside from the economic impact, the theft also impacted people's lives, this includes the death of six children due to theft of manhole covers (2004–2008 figures). The theft of copper cables is a serious problem in Gauteng.
Ukraine In February 2004, thieves in western Ukraine dismantled and stole an long, one-tonne steel bridge that spanned the river Svalyavka. In September 2009, smugglers attempted to make off with 25 tons of radioactive scrap metal from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Security Service of Ukraine caught them.
United Kingdom
Significant rises in metal theft were observed during 2006–2007 in the UK, especially in North East England, where metal theft was still on the rise .