NORTH COUNTY – Four employees of metal recycling companies in North County were arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of buying stolen telephone cables, culminating a months-long operation that involved undercover agents posing as copper thieves.

In April and May, agents targeted five metal recycling companies in North County, two in Vista, two in Escondido, and one in Oceanside, Sheriff's Det. Jason Vickery said.

Authorities decided to go after the demand side of the problem rather than focusing on the thieves. “If you cut off the money, hopefully you'll cut off the criminal activity,” Undersheriff Bill Gore said.

The van load of telephone cables used by undercover agents was obviously suspicious, authorities said.

Three employees from Ben Recycling in Oceanside were arrested – Frederick Fohl, 48, Daniel Kwak, 26, and James Robinson, 52.

A prosecutor said Fohl faces four counts of criminally receiving stolen metal, and up to five years in state prison. Kwak faces two counts and up to three years and eight months, and Robinson one count and a maximum of three years.

Eduardo Guillen, an employee of Lee's Iron and Metal in Vista, also was arrested and faces a maximum three-year sentence.

All the charges are felonies.

Although three of the businesses targeted refused to buy any cables, one or more of them may face civil penalties related to improper bookkeeping discovered during inspections in June, Vickery said.

AT&T, which says it had 250 cases of thieves stealing copper wire statewide last year, asked authorities for help. The Sheriff's Department, the District Attorney's Office, the FBI, the state Department of Justice, and the Oceanside and Escondido police departments partnered for the operation, with assistance from the utility.

Ignacio De La Torre, an executive director with AT&T, said copper theft is “rampant” and the company is offering up to a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone stealing telephone cables from the company. The AT&T hotline is (888) 871-2622.

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