More than 500 km of copper cables stolen, a million euros in damage and six men indicted: a network of suspected thieves has been dismantled in Gironde.
Publi-Information 
More than 500 kilometers of stolen copper cablesA financial damage which far exceeds one million euros and six suspects placed in pre-trial detention. The Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office announced, on November 7, 2026, the indictment of six men suspected of having organized a series of thefts from photovoltaic power plants in the South-West. The case highlights the vulnerability of certain solar installations to copper predationwhose prices have risen sharply in recent years.
A network suspected of having stripped photovoltaic plants of their copper cables has been dismantled in the South-West. Thirteen incidents of theft have been recorded in six departments, while investigations continue in order to identify other victims and trace the resale chain. © IA / Laure Pophillat
Thirteen flights in six departments
Opened on August 21, after a report from a farmer according to RTL, the investigation was entrusted to the research brigade of the Lesparre-Médoc gendarmeriewhose investigations made it possible to identify thirteen incidents of theft from photovoltaic power plants located in Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Charente, Charente-Maritime and Gers.
The six men, aged 19 to 45 and of Romanian nationality, were arrested on November 3 in Gironde after an operation that mobilized more than a hundred gendarmerie soldiers. At the end of their police custody, and before being placed in pre-trial detention, they were indicted for:
– “organized gang theft” ;
– And “participation in a criminal conspiracy with a view to preparing a crime“.
The suspects are presumed innocent. The judicial investigation continues, particularly for identify all the victim operators and identify any other participants as well as the copper flow circuits.
Isolated power stations, night raids
THE modus operandi described by the prosecution is based on nocturnal incursions into isolated sites, sometimes far from homes and located in the middle of the forest. The fences are degraded to allow access to the installations, before the cables are not cut and recovered. The investigators noted a common organization in the various facts recorded. On RTL, gendarmerie captain Dérine Weisgerber, deputy to the commander of the company of Lesparre-Médocdescribes teams that know how to act quickly: cables are cut, rolled up and then loaded into vehiclesbefore the alleged perpetrators left the scene.
The investigations must now make it possible to trace the resale chain since the Recovered copper can be sold after extraction of the metal contained in the sheaths or stored while waiting for a buyer. The speed of this resale constitutes one of the challenges of the investigation, while the prosecution highlights the significant increase in the world price of copperwhich has doubled in five years. Ledit course of copper has progressed of approximately 40 %, passing of close of 10 000 dollars there tonne in november 2021 has approximately 14 000 dollars currently, even ifhe is about of course of copper raw side in sotck exchange, And No of price of redemption of cables of copper at the house of A scrap dealer,ce last addicted notably of there purity of metal, of her state And of there presence possible insulators.
A risk weighing on photovoltaic production
Beyond the amount of material damage, the cable theft can have direct consequences on the operation of power plants, with the Bordeaux public prosecutor emphasizing that these acts cause lasting shutdowns of electricity production. Rehabilitation is not limited to replace the stolen metal because operators must also repair damage, restore connections and put the installations back into service.
The phenomenon goes beyond this single affair. According to figures communicated by the public prosecutor, more than 400 copper cable theft facts were recorded in the gendarmerie zone in New Aquitaine over the first nine months of 2026. The public prosecutor’s office is therefore continuing investigations in order to identify other victims and determine the possible ramifications of the supply chain of the goods.
