Surge in copper cable thefts leaves residents of Fatreh without electricity

On the secondary roads within the Fatreh region, a municipality in the Byblos District of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, a car carrying unidentified individuals crossed the area on Monday night, February 20. The unknown perpetrators climbed electric poles and cut 900 meters of 25-millimeter-thick cables at a height of seven meters. The nature of the copper cables and the method of cutting them indicate that the thieves used specialized tools, suggesting that they were professionals.

As a result of the theft, 15 homes experienced power outages. This incident is not the only one of its kind in the region; cable thefts have exceeded 2,000 meters in the past two months, according to the local municipality. The company BUS, responsible for providing electricity services in the area, confirmed to LBCI that since the announcement of the new electricity plan, acts of vandalism and theft in Lebanese regions have increased by more than 100 percent, reaching up to 40 thefts per week.

Fatreh is a small sample of an ongoing series of incidents. In Mina, Tripoli, unidentified individuals cut 1,400 meters of cables on Wednesday morning, affecting 12 streets. It appears that professional mafia groups are operating in agreement with each other, targeting all Lebanese territories.

Security forces are confronting these criminals through investigations and arrests, while Lebanon's electricity company is combating theft by replacing the copper, which is sold by thieves for around $7 per kilogram, with cables composed of aluminum and rubber. This is done in the hope that the lower-priced materials will not be targeted by thieves.