Elite copper robbery ring smashed in Barcelona

The Catalan police force has arrested 52 people who are suspected of forming part of the biggest group of copper thieves it has busted to date, after a spectacular raid in Barcelona on Tuesday morning.

With a helicopter circling overhead to watch for fleeing suspects, 180 officers entered nine addresses in three different buildings between Agricultura and Cristóbal Moura streets in the city's Sant Martí district, making the arrests between 6am and 10.30am. All those detained were male Romanian nationals, with the exception of two women, one of whom was Spanish.

The police said that, as well as robbing copper from all manner of places - trains, telephones, electrical appliances and elevators - the group also had the infrastructure to treat the metal, melt it down and sell it on.

The police are still looking for 30 more people who weren't in the houses at the time of the raids, according to district police station inspector, Ignasi Teixidó. The ring is accused of operating in Barcelona, Lleida, Girona and particularly in the Catalan Pyrenees.

Copper robberies have increased 139 percent in Catalonia in the last year, with 3,800 reported thefts - compared to 1,485 in 2009 - according to public prosecution office data.

"We live off scrap metal," said Mihaela Ursa, 22, whose husband was among the men arrested. "Where is the money? If you have copper, you have money."