Police Seize a Ton of Stolen Copper Cables in Magé, Arrest 8 in National Crackdown

Overview

• Civil Police from the theft unit detained eight men in Magé and seized about one ton of copper and phone cables in a targeted operation.
• Officers said the group was pulling cables from an underground gallery with a truck and a car positioned to carry the load.
• The men showed papers they claimed were city authorization, which police are now verifying after the utility said no work was scheduled there.
• The arrests fall under Operação Caminhos do Cobre, which targets the whole chain from thieves to scrapyards and metal processors, and has driven inspections and arrests across Rio.
• National reporting shows cable theft jumped from 300 tons in 2024 to 975 tons in 2025, with losses near R$90 million and blackouts that left nearly 450,000 customers without power in Ceará.