Gang of Romanian cable thieves jailed after being caught red-handed dressed in hi-vis jackets to pose as legitimate workmen

A gang of Romanian cable thieves caught red-handed after wearing orange jackets to pose as legitimate workers have all been sentenced to three years in prison.

Dramatic footage shows the moment the brazen trio arrived in a white van and roared off after setting up plastic security barriers before proceeding to loot valuable copper cables.

When they began cutting the cables using chainsaws, the gang triggered the alarm and a nearby police armed response unit caught them red-handed.

Two of the robbers were ordered to get into the van, but the third remained in the tunnel and refused to get out.

Plans were mooted to dig a new pit to extract 37-year-old Marian Agarlita, amid fears of dangerous cables or gas leaking.

However, when a dog team was brought to the scene, he surrendered and climbed out of the well.

The case has prompted experts to warn that Britain’s infrastructure is being damaged by criminal gangs, many with links to Eastern Europe, who pose as contractors to evade suspicion.

Rising metal prices mean they can make as much as £10,000 in a single night by ripping up broadband connections and selling them to unscrupulous scrap metal dealers.

Marian Agarlita, 37, initially refused to come out of the hole until a police dog handler was brought in.

A Romanian gang carried out an attack just meters away from a police station in central Birmingham on January 20, 2026.

Seven cables were cut, affecting 7,800 lines to different businesses and Government offices.

As a result, approximately 5,000 customers in the area are believed to have experienced disruption to their phone and internet connections.

Birmingham Crown Court heard today that the repairs, which cost around £97,000, have not yet been fully completed.

CCTV footage shows them erecting plastic barriers before opening drains in an attempt to deceive passers-by.

But prosecutor David Iles said alarms went off at BT’s nearby offices when they tore through the cables, causing a ‘major disruption’.

He said the gang recklessly disregarded the consequences of their actions, as both the elevator and fire alarms were affected.

‘One slip of their chainsaw could have been catastrophic for critical services,’ he said.

CCTV shows white van gang erecting plastic security fences to fool passersby

(LR) cable thieves Sorin Condrache, 45, Aldafin Poenaru, 49 and Marian Agarlita, 37

‘If it had not been stopped many more cables would have been cut.’

Getaway drivers Altafin Poenaru, 49, and Sorin Condrache, 45, confessed to the theft.

The court heard that Agarlita, from the Isle of Wight, had lived in England for 15 years, was living in fixed accommodation and was a skilled plasterer.

His lawyer, Stefan Salhan, said his client was truly remorseful and ashamed for an ‘isolated incident’.

Condrache, from Smethwick, was an ‘online trader’ who arrived in the UK in 2021, his adviser Lewis Perry said.

He had two teenage children living in Germany.

Jas Mann, defending Poenaru, also from Smethwick, said he had been in England since 1999 and had made a ‘successful life’ running a bar.

‘He is a grandfather and feels great shame for his involvement,’ he added.

Cut copper cables were found inside the minibus

None of the men had any previous criminal records.

Jailing them for three years each, Recorder Ben Close said: ‘There must have been significant disruption to businesses using all these different lines and the damage would have been greater if the alarms had not gone off and the police had been nearby.’

PC Charlotte Gurrey, who later investigated, said: ‘The gang were clearly skilled, organised, and had put a significant amount of planning into stealing communications cables that night.

‘Agarlita initially refused to come up and there was discussion about the need to block off and dig up part of the street so that whoever went down to get her out would not be at risk from damaged cables or any gas that might leak.

‘They completely ignored the knock-on effect on communications within the city, but the quick work of officers stationed nearby and the company who called 999 after the alarm was triggered meant they were quickly arrested and now jailed.’

Robin Edwards, of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, said: ‘Metal crime is a blight on our communities and industry and has a significant impact on our daily lives.

‘Some parts of the scrap metal industry are operating outside the law, damaging the legitimate industry, this is unacceptable and damaging to business.

‘Such blatant and organized crime is unacceptable and NICRP works closely with the police, local authorities and our partners, including the legitimate scrap metal industry, to combat such crime.’

An Openreach spokesman said: ‘Cable theft causes real harm.

‘When phone and broadband services are disabled, it’s not only frustrating, it can leave vulnerable people without the support they rely on.

‘It’s not quick or easy to fix things. Our engineers need to be taken away from other vital work, repairs can take weeks and cost thousands of pounds.

‘We take protecting our network seriously.

‘We use a range of security measures to deter theft and help catch those responsible. Every incident is investigated by our expert security team and our network is monitored 24/7 from our control center.

‘We are therefore pleased to have worked closely with West Midlands Police and local partners on a joint approach that has yielded positive results.’