Police And Endesa In Almería And El Ejido Uncover 700 Fraudulent Electricity Connections

POLICE And Endesa Joint Operations In Almería And El Ejido Uncover 700 Fraudulent Electricity Connections

During the first quarter of 2021, the National Police of Almería and El Ejido, in a joint effort involving the electricity provider, Endesa, has uncovered almost 700 illegal and fraudulent electricity connections in properties in the region.
It is known by these two entities that the cultivation and manufacturing of marijuana indoors needs light, temperature and humidity conditions for their proliferation that can only be achieved artificially, and the criminals involved in this activity are usually found to be connecting illegally to existing electricity lines in order to get a free supply to power the large amount of heating and lighting needed.
Properties with illegal connections can overload the supply lines by pulling too much power from the grid, and in some cases, it can prove very dangerous, with some properties know to have had fires as the result of an overload.

Between January and March 2021, officers from the Almería National Police conducted 40 house searches, concentrated mainly in the neighborhoods of Pescadería, Quemadero, Almendros, Puche, or Torrecárdenas, while officers from El Ejido carried out 6 searches, mostly in Pampanico, Las Norias, or the Llanos de Vícar.