Displaying items by tag: Police

Mexico: Eight people have died in an armed clash at Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s Hidalgo cement plant. The El País newspaper has reported that attackers riding in multiple trucks arrived at the plant in the early hours of 27 April 2022. In addition to the eight dead, a further 12 people were wounded in the ensuing fight with defenders. Attackers also destroyed some control panel wiring at the plant and set fire to eight vehicles. The altercation caused a suspension of cement production at the facility.

Police detained nine suspects and have established a watch at the Hidalgo plant.

India: Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra, have opened a case against a Gujarat-based cement producer on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the accused company borrowed US$27m in 2017 and early 2018, purportedly for the purchase of four clinker carrier ships and the construction of jetties at two sites in Gujarat. However, the producer had mortgaged all four ships, pledging over 20% of its shares. From the funds, it reportedly paid itself for the construction of the jetties, and used US$17.35 to repay outstanding bank loans.

India: An explosion at a cement plant in Gujarat’s Rajkot district has killed three workers. The Times of India newspaper has reported that police have detained two engineers on suspicion of criminal negligence.

Pakistan: Three workers from DG Cement’s Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant who were kidnapped have been rescued following negotiation. Tribal elders spoke to the Laadi gang that abducted the workers and no ransom was paid, according to the Dawn newspaper. The gang’s demands included establishing a school and building water reservoirs in the area. The gang kidnapped the workers in early April 2022. 12 associates of the gang have been detained.

Switzerland: Environmental activists have occupied a forest on private land next to the Gabenchopf quarry that supplies limestone to Holcim Schweiz’s Siggenthal cement plant. The activists are protesting about a planned expansion to the quarry, according to the Blick newspaper. Police have described the mood of the activists as ‘peaceful.’ The occupation follows a similar protest against expansion of another Holcim-owned quarry at Mormont, Vaud, in 2021.

Italy/Albania: Officials from the Customs and Monopoly Agency (ADM) and the soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza, have identified cement lacking CE and proper importation markings, among other questionable building materials, in three articulated trucks that disembarked from Albania at the port of Ancona. A total of more than 36t of materials has been held.

The authorities stated that the use of trademarks of Italian companies on imported products or goods without clearly indicating the country or place of manufacture and, more generally, incorrect information on the origin of the goods, damages both the market and consumers’ interests.

Guyana: The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has confiscated a US$68,300 illegal cannabis shipment from a Panamanian cement carrier ship that was scheduled to depart Port Georgetown on 21 January 2022. CANU says that the value of the substance would have been significantly higher at its destination. It has detained the ship’s captain, engineer and senior officers.

India: The nine-year-old son of an ACC executive has returned home after being kidnapped in Bargarh, Odisha. The child was playing locally on the evening of 2 January 2022 when two men on a motorcycle abducted him, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. They left a ransom note demanding around US$13,400 for his return. Following a search, police found the boy roaming the countryside shortly before midnight on the same day. They believe the assailants abandoned their plans after learning that the authorities had effectively prevented their escape by sealing the local area. The hunt for the suspects continues.

Mexico: 200 police officers in 80 police cars arrived outside the gates of Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s Cruz Azul cement plant in Tula, Hidalgo, on 15 December 2021, but failed to enter the plant. The El Financiero newspaper has reported that the police were following a court order to remove the company from the plant. Supervisory board president Alberto Lopez reasserted the company’s right to occupy the property in line with federal government ordinances. Lopez suggested an alleged collusion between cooperativists and Omar Fayad’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Hidalgo state government to decieve the courts.

Authorities have frozen Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s accounts with outstanding bills of US$800,000 in electricity, gas, equipment and services bills, as well as the payroll of its 1100 workers.

Coopertiva La Cruz Azul chair Federico Sarabia said that the developments threaten the existence of the Cruz Azul plant. He said "In terms of quality, Cruz Azul’s cement exceeds the standard. At the time that Cruz Azul disappears as a cement producer, prices will increase.”

India: Police have successfully raided a fake cement mixing and bagging operation in the Patel Nagar district of West Delhi. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the accused perpetrators claim to have recorded a profit of US$2.69/bag by contaminating cement purchased for US$3.36/bag with expired cement from building sites. Two people were processing a 350 bag order at the time of the raid.

Police continue to work to trace all cement dispatches from the factory in the interest of public safety.