Prague, July 29 (CTK) – Camera systems and a central register of metals salvage points should help resolve problems with the illegal buy-out of metals according to a proposal by the Czech Environment Ministry the government approved at its meeting on Wednesday.
The theft of metals to be illegally bought-out threatens safety on roads and rails and it often results in damage to monuments and to public as well as private property.
The ministry wants to radically reduce crime related to the buy-out of metal wastes by 2018.
Metals have long been stolen and illegally sold mainly in some socially-weak localities. In 2012, the police registered more than 11,000 criminal thefts of metal items for 445 million crowns.
Last year, the number rose to almost 12,000 cases to the value of more than half a billion crowns.
This year, the thefts dropped to 42 percent from March to June compared with the same period last year.
This was due to a new decree that bans metals buy-out for cash.
