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Metal Prices Are Soaring. So Is Metal Theft
It’s a multibillion-dollar global problem, and in a rapidly electrifying world, the profits—and ease—of stealing metals are only going to increase.
For instance, historians surmise that as well as gold and precious stones, ancient thieves stole metal razor blades from the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. But a guy driving by stopped in the middle of the road and said, “Hey, are you gonna throw that away?” Soon, Stickle found himself helping to cram the filthy tank into the back of the man’s small car. For his 2017 book on the subject, Metal Scrappers and Thieves: Scavenging for Survival and Profit, Stickle interviewed one man who used to hunt down abandoned buildings on Google, then find pictures or videos from urban explorers who had visited these locations for kicks, just to see if he could spot any copper in their footage.
Or read this on Wired