The RCMP's Southern Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit recently helped seize 800 pounds of stolen copper wire from a home in Calgary.

It's believed it had been stolen from work sites throughout southern Alberta and was being sold to a metal recycling business.

ed out of Airdrie, investigated over 200 cases involving stolen metal last year.

“Provincially, there were 661 copper wire thefts, of those 168 were in the southern Alberta region. There were 348 reports of thefts of catalytic converters in the province, of those, 73 were reported in the southern Alberta district,” she said

Officials say criminals often steal metal from property owners and businesses in isolated areas to avoid detection, making rural Albertans a particular target of thieves and trespassers looking for metal to steal and sell.

If passed, the new bill from the province will also force metal buyers to keep track of exactly who they are buying from and use payment methods that leave a paper trail, along with stiffer penalties for perpetrators.

A first offence for an individual will consist of a $10,000 fine or one year in jail or both. A second offence would carry a price tag of $25,000 or one year in jail or both. For corporations a first offence would net a fine of $50,000 and a second or subsequent offence would cost them $200,000.

The province hopes these measures will help reduce the instances of metal theft in the province and help address one of the big issues related to rural crime.

 

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