Canada: desperation takes hold, people stealing storm drain covers.

Thieves steal Vancouver storm-drain covers.

Metal thieves are targeting the heavy storm-drain covers located next to curbs and in alleys, leaving pedestrians at risk of stepping into holes that are difficult to see on dark, rainy days.

So far this month, 13 of the 63-kilogram covers have been stolen; in June alone, the City of Vancouver lost 92.

Stories similar to these are becoming commonplace in the US but I was a bit surprised to hear about this happening in Canada.

Think about it.

Each one of these metal covers weighs 63 kilograms or 138 pounds. Thats not like stealing a pack of gum.

And how much do they stand to make? According to the article, theyre worth about $14 each on the scrap metals market... Four-teen bucks.

Hold on people, we're in for a wild ride. Things are only going to get worse.

reply to post by gladtobehere


I am leaning more towards drug addicts more so than people hard pressed for money or work. These are just people looking to make a quick buck so they can run off and get high. Trust me, I am from just outside of Vancouver.

Meth heads always stealing metal, every where.

Copper is the preferred metal of choice, I recall a guy shooting and killing 2 of 3 robbing metal off his work truck.

He didn't even get a slap on the wrist, and ridded the world of 2 would be thieves and wounded another.

reply to post by anthbes

Fair enough, but there is nothing "quick" about stealing 140 pound metal drain covers.

And while crackheads may be capable of stealing these objects, it does take a certain amount of planning and resources.

Seems a bit too organized IMHO.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by anthbes

 

Fair enough, but there is nothing "quick" about stealing 140 pound metal drain covers.

Only if you're on foot and alone.

Originally posted by anthbes
reply to post by gladtobehere

 

I am leaning more towards drug addicts more so than people hard pressed for money or work. These are just people looking to make a quick buck so they can run off and get high. Trust me, I am from just outside of Vancouver.

Your probably right. When I was in the Marines we used to go train at Twenty Nine Palms in CA. We used to have to post gaurds to keep the meth heads from entering the ranges looking for scrap metal. I'm surprised that no one has been killed out there looking for scrap. At least no one that I know of.

reply to post by gladtobehere


ROFL, we are now the South Africa of the north, a pine cone colony (certainly not a republic). Stupid theiving politics, run by the corrupt for the corrupt and of course, a peppering of metal thieves. In South Africa some of the people were so stupid they'd try and steal the high voltage electrical wires WHILE THEY WERE STILL POWERED! Lots a crispy critters there and a rather interesting way of adding chlorine to the gene "pool." They also stole the train rail lines. Opps, talk about a country coming off its tracks. People were even stealing metal roofs, iron drain pipes, storm sewer covers (like Vancouver), transformers, electrical boxes, telephone boxes, etc, literally anything metal they could scrap out.

Welcome to the New World Dissorder!

Cheers - Dave

IMAO;

The Govt should give meth away for free. Talk about killing multiple birds with one stone.

Transient Meth Head rakes in 95k a year stealing copper to support 100 dollar a day habit.

Kirk Wise; Dopefiend.

It may be druggies in Canada stealing them, but here in Bulgaria the same thing has been happening for some time and it is purely just poor people trying to get some cash. It makes it kind of interesting when walking down dark unlit streets ( as most are here), to make sure you don't fall down into one!!

Originally posted by gladtobehere
Thieves steal Vancouver storm-drain covers.

Metal thieves are targeting the heavy storm-drain covers located next to curbs and in alleys, leaving pedestrians at risk of stepping into holes that are difficult to see on dark, rainy days.

So far this month, 13 of the 63-kilogram covers have been stolen; in June alone, the City of Vancouver lost 92.

Stories similar to these are becoming commonplace in the US but I was a bit surprised to hear about this happening in Canada.

Think about it.

Each one of these metal covers weighs 63 kilograms or 138 pounds. Thats not like stealing a pack of gum.

And how much do they stand to make? According to the article, theyre worth about $14 each on the scrap metals market... Four-teen bucks.

Hold on people, we're in for a wild ride. Things are only going to get worse.

edit on 27-11-2012 by gladtobehere because: (no reason given)

And I want to know how many Canadians are missing? Think there would be better ways to go to prison besides risking stealing something that requires more than one person or a tow truck to apprehend...1400 hundred dollars? Maybe but 14...that is just plain idiotic. I mean stealing is bad enough, but that's adding insult to injury.

I don't believe a scrap metal business is going to take a storm drain cover.

They are illegally taking stolen goods.

I don't buy it and neither are they.

In Britain, it's acknowledged by police, councils and government that there's been an increase in 'scrap' metal thefts since the financial crisis. Recent years have seen the theft of war memorials, non-military cemetery plaques, signal cabling from the railway network, and so on. Theft from electricity supplier's networks alone has risen 700% since 2009.

There was even an highly-organised theft where a train carrying scrap metal that was driven away and had the scrap metal unloaded into waiting lorries.

It's supposed to be illegal to take things that will obviously look stolen, but its been an industry that's largely self-regulated, run by cash and without the kinds of paper work that other businesses might use.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by anthbes

 

Fair enough, but there is nothing "quick" about stealing 140 pound metal drain covers.

And while crackheads may be capable of stealing these objects, it does take a certain amount of planning and resources.

Seems a bit too organized IMHO.

A crack head probably doesn't even have a vehicle to haul the thing around . Selling off their property comes long before they are robbing for such a menial amount. They work quicker than this, quick hold up at a coffee shop, where they can run away fast. Can't run very fast with this thing.

Seems more like someone wants them for something else besides scrap metal value. Or it's just kids pranking

i live near a old closed military bombing range and i could collect 2000 lb of iron in a couple hours and spend the rest of the day metal detecting for brass 20mm casing and find $100 in brass.

$200 a day tax free is not a bad days work and i don't even have to steal any.

One time i found the crash site of a F4 phantom and filled the back of my truck with aluminum
plus 50 pounds of titanium from the afterburners and 70 pounds of turbine blades

I made over $2000 for about 8 hours work.

I have seen a old van that had a electromagnet mounted under it and a generator in the back .
it was in a tow yard where the cops were holding it after they had caught the driver parking over manholes and stealing the covers and driving off.
what got him caught was his small generator ran out of fuel and one of the manhole covers fell off while he was driving down the main street of town at 40 mph

reply to post by ANNED


I thought they just changed the law out here in Cali when it comes to scrap. Something about needing to document who is bringing in what.

Iron Drain / Duct covers being stolen happens alot in the UK

The Company I work for now uses Composite plastic/fibreglass covers after research and a report I put together.


Peace

Rock Ape

Here in our town a few years back, a local high school football stadium had recently upgraded to aluminum bleachers. needless to say it took less them a week for a whole section of these new bleachers to be cut out and stolen and sold for scrap.

One would think the scrap yard would notice "hmmm something is definitely wrong with this picture" but I guess they have to make their money too

reply to post by gladtobehere


I don't think anyone hardly considers how vulnerable the infrastructure is and if people get desperate enough ?
Just a matter of days before everything comes crashing down.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by anthbes

 

Fair enough, but there is nothing "quick" about stealing 140 pound metal drain covers.

And while crackheads may be capable of stealing these objects, it does take a certain amount of planning and resources.

Seems a bit too organized IMHO.

Most of the druggies are working, often mechanics or in construction, at least the ones I knew through my ex, and scrap metal was big, even scraping down big staches of copper wire. And usually a few of them, trucks and equipment involved. One roofing company often paid off the guys in drugs and they were basically like slaves IMO and I had something to say to that guy in public, made a few jaws drop and this drug dealer actually phoned me up, but that didn't last for long, cause I had the hero or zero lecture of his life to give him and reminding him of all the men who are not men, who had children, and all those camping trips and beds and food, and just normal things taken from them by people like that, who by the way, employed some of those scrap metal guys, and was just such a respectable guy in town, drove his 180 000 dollar rig, just all that. Not to mention all the crooked cops who know all about all of these guys.

My personal favorite stories of crazy metal to steal have been all the catalytic converters cut off of parked cars. That's been happening for a while and apparently is pretty easy to do.