Tight controls by the Carabinieri Company of Melito Porto Salvo to combat water thefts through illegal connections. This phenomenon takes on even more importance considering the water emergency that these days grips the entire Greganica area and that forces many citizens to have limited water. At the end of the numerous controls carried out, the military of the Bagaladi Station reported a total of 4 individuals to the Judicial Authority in two separate circumstances.
In particular, the military personnel of the Arma, assisted by personnel from the Municipality of San Lorenzo, have noted how in the first case, 2 of the aforementioned, through the use of bypasses, managed to illegally remove large quantities of water from the public water network. The device used was immediately subjected to criminal seizure. On another occasion, however, the presence of a water meter decommissioned in 2010 and registered to the previous owner of the property was found, to which the relevant seal had been affixed, the presence of which was not detected by the operators.
The aforementioned meter was subjected to criminal seizure with the simultaneous affixing of a new seal by the municipal plumber while the owner of the property and the actual user were reported to the Judicial Authority. The aforementioned conduct goes beyond the mere conduct of theft and constitutes the crime of “aggravated theft”.
This qualification increases the penalties for simple theft and aggravates them when the act is committed on things intended for public service or public authorities. Thanks to the intervention of the military of the Bagaladi Station, the continuation of the illegitimate activity was interrupted, restoring the due conditions of normality.
The intervention of the Carabinieri is part of a broader project to combat crimes involving water theft in the entire jurisdiction of the Carabinieri Company of Melito Porto Salvo aimed at preventing certain individuals from benefiting from public resources for their own selfish purposes. The proceedings are currently in the preliminary investigation phase and the principle of innocence applies to the suspects until the final sentence.