Spanish police have arrested 16 people suspected of being part of a gang that stole hundreds of tons copper for sale in Spain

Spanish police have arrested 16 people, most of them Romanians, suspected of being part of a gang that stole hundreds of tons copper for sale in Spain and abroad, the interior ministry has said.It said the theft of copper rolls from a solar park in the southern region of Albacete led police to a warehouse where the gang had hidden around 1.6 tonnes of copper as well as machines for making fake identity cards.
The ministry said in March that police had detained 77 Romanians suspected of being part of a gang that stole copper to ship to China and Germany.Surging demand on the global market for copper, used in phone lines, power cables, radiators and air conditioners, is driving thefts of the material around the world.