October 13, 2026

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Police operation in the gypsy camp of Aspropyrgos: 9 arrests for theft of electricity


In Aspropyrgos underwent a large-scale operation (ΕΛ.ΑΣ.), in a Roma settlement. According to police and Greek media, detained 9 people in cases of electricity theft, and specialists ΔΕΔΔΗΕ dismantled 3,124 meters illegal cables.

The operation was carried out as part of checks to combat illegal activities in the area Aspropyrgosa. As reported Newsbomb, Newsbeast And Libreunits participated in the raid ΕΛ.ΑΣ., ΟΠΚΕ (Crime prevention and suppression groups), crime-fighting officers in Western Attica and other divisions.

As a result of the operation, they were detained 9 people. Case materials have been compiled regarding them electricity theft. The detainees must be brought before the prosecutor, and the investigation continues.

More than three kilometers of illegal cables

Simultaneously with the police operation, specialists ΔΕΔΔΗΕ We dismantled illegal connections. According to Newsbomb And Newsbeastwas filmed 3,124 meters cables that authorities believe were used to illegally connect to the power grid.

The scale of this figure is in itself indicative: we are not talking about a random wire transferred “for a while,” but about an entire system of illegal electricity consumption. Three kilometers of cable is no longer a household trick, but an infrastructure. This, of course, is a kind of folk engineering, but in the end it is not only the state that has to pay for it, but all legitimate consumers through network losses and tariffs.

Part of a wider policing strategy

According to the message ΕΛ.ΑΣ.the operation fits into a broader plan for the prevention and suppression of crime in areas where systematic violations are recorded. Authorities emphasize that such raids will continue, especially where illegal connections, electricity thefts, violations of traffic laws and other offenses are detected.

It is important to separate the two levels of the problem. On the one hand, electricity theft is a specific offense that creates financial damage, increases the load on the network and can be technically dangerous: illegal cables often cause fires, short circuits and accidents.

On the other hand, the ethnicity of residents cannot become a collective accusation. The subject of the investigation is specific actions of specific people: illegal connections, possible theft of electricity, violations and the responsibility of those detained. Otherwise, the discussion very quickly turns not into a conversation about law and order, but into the usual Balkan competition of generalizations, where common sense usually loses first.

Why is this important

The problem of illegal connections in Western Attica not new. Similar operations regularly held in different areaswhere illegal cable lines and unauthorized electricity consumption are detected. For ΔΕΔΔΗΕ and police, such cases are not only a matter of lost payments, but also a matter of network security.

When illegal connections become widespread, the damage is distributed more widely: infrastructure suffers, the risk of accidents increases, and honest consumers get another example of how the state tolerates a parallel reality for years, and then suddenly comes with a raid. An excellent management tradition: first not to see the problem, then to heroically discover it.

Editorial comment

Operation in Aspropyrgose shows an old problem of the Greek state: the rule of law often appears not as a permanent system, but as surprise raid. Electricity theft is not a small thing or a “social feature”, but a direct damage to the network, the budget and the citizens who pay the bills. But the fight against such violations must be constant, targeted and legally clear: the violators bear responsibility, and not entire communities on the principle of collective guilt.



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