On a current weeknight in Bela Vista, the guts of central São Paulo’s nightlife, visitors slowed close to a viaduct. In seconds, two figures slipped between lanes, tapped a automotive window with a tiny slicing device, snatched a cellphone, vaulted a barrier, and had been gone.
Not far-off, one other crew hauled coils of cable from an opened road field, the air acrid from burned insulation. These are the 2 crimes driving Bela Vista’s surge.
Police on the fifth District logged 486 thefts in August—up 57 p.c from the identical month in 2024—whereas citywide theft rose 8.8 p.c and robberies fell almost 5 p.c.
It’s the shift towards fast, low-contact theft in locations the place drivers are trapped and escape routes are many. The primary sample is cable theft. Crews scale poles or crack underground covers, strip copper, and promote it to casual scrapyard.
Enel says cable theft incidents fell 42 p.c within the first seven months of the 12 months, however they nonetheless disrupted service for almost 20,000 clients; 29 occurred in Bela Vista.
Throughout Brazil in 2024, there have been greater than 28,000 cable thefts, costing over R$45 million ($8.49 million), and greater than 130 tons of cabling disappeared—most of it within the Southeast.
Bela Vista Crime Wave Tied to Copper Theft and Telephone Snatches
For residents and small companies, that’s hours or days with out electrical energy or web. The second sample is “quebra-vidro” cellphone snatches.
Small teams on foot, bikes, or bikes transfer by means of stalled visitors, break a aspect window, seize a tool from a dashboard or passenger’s hand, then vanish down aspect streets or underpasses.
Hotspots cluster round Viaduto Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, Rua Manoel Dutra, and the bar-dense streets close to Praça Dom Orione and Rua Treze de Maio.
Authorities say they’re hitting each the thieves and the fences. Police report seizing greater than 7.2 tons of copper this 12 months, arresting or detaining 31,700 suspects from January to August, and eradicating 2,300 unlawful firearms. Utilities are reinforcing covers and swapping supplies to scale back resale worth.
The story behind the story is about geography and incentives. Bela Vista’s recipe—crowds, nightlife, stop-and-go visitors, and quick exits by way of viaducts—creates good ambush factors and fast getaways, whereas excessive copper costs make cables definitely worth the danger.
The fixes are equally particular: unpredictable patrols on the precise choke factors the place automobiles should cease, tighter checks on scrap sellers, brighter lighting, and quicker repairs to road {hardware}. That’s the way you make a vigorous neighborhood really feel secure once more—with out dimming its lights.
