Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Greeks strip country for scrap cash
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/377030/Greeks-strip-country-for-scrap-cash ^ | February 11, 2013

Posted on 02/12/2013 7:27:10 PM PST by dennisw

Greece has been hit by an unprecedented wave of metal thefts as its recession-hit people turn to crime.

Train lines, bridges, cables and even cemeteries have all been targeted for scrap to feed a market driven by China and India.

Police now arrest an average of four metal thieves every day, compared to a few cases every month before the crisis started in late 2009. The profile of the metal thief is also changing, authorities say, from gypsies and immigrants living on the margins of society to mainstream Greeks who have fallen on hard times.

Roadside crash barriers, storm-drain covers, heavy factory doors, as well as mining equipment, irrigation machinery and even cemetery planters made of metal have all gone missing in and around Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city, amid concerns that previously law-abiding Greeks are turning to crime in growing numbers.

In northern Greece, rogue merchants have an additional advantage: An 800-mile border with four countries that makes it easier for them to dodge stepped-up police checks on local scrap yards.

Police near the frontier with Turkey last month arrested 18- and 19-year-old suspects accused for stripping nearly 1,000 feet of cable from street lights, blacking out a stretch of newly built road that runs across northern Greece.

Recent inspections also turned up more stolen cable on a passenger bus headed to Albania, along with a cache of candle holders, snatched from graveyards and loaded onto small trucks, that were stopped and searched at the Greek-Bulgarian border.

(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

1 posted on 02/12/2013 7:27:12 PM PST by dennisw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: dennisw

Our grim future.


2 posted on 02/12/2013 7:31:08 PM PST by Viennacon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

How’s that socialism and equality working there?


3 posted on 02/12/2013 7:32:16 PM PST by BipolarBob (Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Viennacon

Forward!


4 posted on 02/12/2013 7:32:48 PM PST by BipolarBob (Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob

The Portuguese Communist Party publishes the weekly Avante! (Forward!)


5 posted on 02/12/2013 7:34:22 PM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Viennacon

Future? We’ve had an epidemic of metal bandits for the past few years.


6 posted on 02/12/2013 7:37:50 PM PST by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

These ‘metal’ crimes pass under the radar here. For now. My ‘Significant Otter’ works in construction. He says building sites, new housing divisions (few), etc. are locked down like never before because of this and he’s been in the biz 25+ years now.


7 posted on 02/12/2013 7:38:06 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

Broken Window Theory says Greece should be Utopia

and Syria should be a superpower soon


8 posted on 02/12/2013 7:39:52 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Viennacon

It is happening here now. Down on their luck men are taking anything they can steal.


9 posted on 02/12/2013 7:39:56 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (There is no requirement to show need in order to exercise your rights.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Viennacon

You mean our grim present. Copper thieves are rampant throughout Texas, breaking into abandoned homes or any abandoned building to strip copper, plumbing fixtures, and anything of value. It’s getting to be a problem.


10 posted on 02/12/2013 7:40:13 PM PST by batterycommander (a little more rubble, a lot less trouble)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Diana in Wisconsin

heh heh She said ‘Significant Otter’ .


11 posted on 02/12/2013 7:40:26 PM PST by BipolarBob (Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob
heh heh She said ‘Significant Otter’ .


12 posted on 02/12/2013 7:43:17 PM PST by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

Gee. The ultimate end-point of socialism: society collapses.


13 posted on 02/12/2013 7:43:19 PM PST by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob

*SNORT* It feels dumb to call someone your ‘Boyfriend’ when we’re both in our 50’s, LOL!

I guess ‘S.O.’ sounds dumb too, LOL!

What am I SUPPOSED to call him? I’ve never been in this particular situation before. *Scratches Head*


14 posted on 02/12/2013 7:45:07 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

Starting to sound like they are not improving. lol.


15 posted on 02/12/2013 7:47:26 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

They were better off when the military junta was running the country.


16 posted on 02/12/2013 7:48:26 PM PST by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Diana in Wisconsin

honey?

or the Korean variant “deng shin”

lol


17 posted on 02/12/2013 7:51:29 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Diana in Wisconsin

I have heard the term “manfriend” being used. Cumbersome but accurate.


18 posted on 02/12/2013 7:52:39 PM PST by Bryan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Viennacon
Our grim future.

In a Mad Max economy people will be bartering with stolen bronze plaques....Greece is moving in this direction

19 posted on 02/12/2013 7:53:18 PM PST by dennisw (too much of a good thing is a bad thing --- Joe Pine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Diana in Wisconsin

And that though Wisconsin is a generally honest state. Boring honest sober population compared to many other parts of America. (maybe skip the sober)


20 posted on 02/12/2013 7:56:56 PM PST by dennisw (too much of a good thing is a bad thing --- Joe Pine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson