The Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced the arrest of 10 Syrian nationals on Tuesday regarding the recent cable thefts. Special Forces were able to carry out raids and ambushes on the airport road, Al-Rehab, and Al-Marj in the Bekaa on May 25 and 26 regarding the recent cable thefts.
Électricité du Liban (EDL) had reported the thefts taking place in downtown Beirut’s Solidere area to the ISF. Said thefts occurred through tunnels extending from the Army naval base and passing beneath the Parliament all the way to the Grand Serail.
After interrogation, the arrestees admitted that almost a dozen thefts have been taking place since April 2023 through the tunnels in the downtown Beirut area. The thieves also confessed to transporting the cables using trucks to the Dahye area, where they sold them as scrap.
Accordingly, the concerned division was able to determine the names of others involved in the theft and the outposts where the stolen cables were transferred to. After much surveillance, special forces carried out raids on the outposts in the areas of Shatila, Taanayel, Deir Ammar, and Deir Zanoun. The forces also arrested 5 new people of both Lebanese and Syrian nationalities.
The patrol division also seized almost 35 tons of copper wire, 37 tons of copper ingots, electric meter structures, 745 kg of water meters, a copper melting machine, and a mold for manufacturing copper and aluminum alloys in Deir Ammar. The division was also able to seize 150 meters of stolen wires in Deir Zanoun as well as a large amount of copper and aluminum cables in Shatila. In addition, the vehicles used during the operation were seized from inside the tunnels in Beirut with 20 high-tension cables inside.
The arrestees admitted that the copper was being sold for six to seven dollars per kilogram. This operation is done with the owners of scrap spots, who collect this stolen copper and later export it through the port to outside the Lebanese territories, more specifically to India.
To ensure the source of the cables, an expert affiliated with EDL examined them. He confirmed that a large number of these cables indeed belonged to EDL since they are used exclusively by the company.
