For five months in the autumn of 2020, more than a mile of copper wire was stolen from the railway in northwestern Skåne.
Since then, the number of thefts has continued to increase according to the Swedish Transport Administration.
To date, it is about 30 km of cables that have been stolen on the stretch Helsingborg-Teckomatorp.
Has consequences
- It is a fucking mischief, I would like to say, it affects an incredible number of people, said Ola Malmberg, unit manager for entertainment district south south at the Swedish Transport Administration, to SVT Helsingborg a couple of months ago.
The thefts affect train traffic, which of course affects passengers.
Replacing the stolen cable and putting in extra buses costs society millions.
During the second half of 2020 alone, the bill went for five million.
So far, the Swedish Transport Administration has tried drones and guards - but without results.
There is already cooperation with the police, but now the Swedish Customs will also be involved and try to stop the thefts.
Keep your eyes open
But what can the Swedish Customs do?
- We can act in connection with customs checks if someone tries to leave the country with copper in the load, says Henrik Sjökvist, unit manager at the Swedish Customs.
So far no such shipments have been noticed.
- But now we will increase our employees' awareness of the problem.
We will keep our eyes open for this item.
In the clip above, you can hear more about thefts of copper wire and how to combat them.