Mexico City, Mexico — The presence of the National Guard on the Mexico City metro has resulted in a 61 percent decrease in wire theft. In a press conference Thursday, Guillermo Calderón Aguilera, the General Director of the metro, reported the recent figure.
He said that the presence of the National Guard on the city’s metro has contributed to the reduction of criminal incidence related to cable theft. He explained that in the first 10 days of January, 530 linear meters of cable was recorded stolen, equivalent to 3,710 kilograms.
After the National Guard were placed on January 12, they have recorded 209 meters with a weight of 1483 kilograms as being stolen. He explained that the wiring being stolen is high voltage, traction power supply and signaling cables.
The sections with the highest incidence of cable theft are Cuatro Caminos-Panteones and Xola-Tasqueña on Line 2, Green Indians-La Raza of Line 3, Petroleum Institute-Valle Gómez and Aragón-Oceania of Line 5, Pantitlán-Guelatao on Line A and Ciudad Azteca-Bosque de Aragón on Line B.
Mexico City’s head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum, said a “high-level group” is being created for the metro cable theft after Guillermo Calderón affirmed that there is an organized crime group dedicated to the theft copper wiring in the transport system.
Sheinbaum said that the theft is affecting the transportation system and other companies, public and private, including the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and Teléfonos de México (Telmex).
The Mexico City Police Chief, Omar García Harfuch, reported that arrests have been made in the thefts.
“We have no record that it was done by metro workers, the detainees were not workers,” García Harfuch said Thursday. He added that between the months of December and January, they have managed to capture several people linked to cells dedicated to the theft of copper cable from the Mexico City subway system.
Last month, an accident on Line 3 left more than a hundred with injuries and one person dead. The accident, which involved two cars crashing, was determined caused by the theft of cables.
In November, a technical failure at the Mexico City International Airport left hundreds of passengers in Terminal 2 delayed after an Internet failure affected INM. The failure was due to attempted cable theft.