Displaying items by tag: Police
Kidnapped DG Cement workers rescued
11 April 2022Pakistan: 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.
Italian authorities seize cement en-route from Albania
28 January 2022Italy/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.
Cannabis smugglers attempt to hide drugs in cement shipment
20 January 2022Guyana: 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.
Police rescue ACC executive’s child following ransom attempt
04 January 2022India: 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.”
Police raid fake cement operation in West Delhi
16 November 2021India: 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.
Court orders Empire Cement Ghana to stop building plant
08 September 2021Ghana: The High Court of Ghana has ordered the Empire Cement Ghana to stop all activity related to building a new cement plant in the southern part of the McCarthy Hills. It has forced this until a hearing takes place for an injunction application by the McCarthy Hill Residents Association, according to the Ghana News Agency. The site was previously raided by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agents and the police in late June 2021 after a tipoff by local residents. The association alleges that the Chinese-run plant project has been misusing a temporary permit from the EPA to manufacture cement as a mandate to instead start installing equipment at the site.
Bombs found at India Cements plant in Tamil Nadu
23 June 2021India: Two pipe bombs have been found by police at India Cements plant at Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. The explosives were discovered after the plant manager was asked for a ransom of around US$70,000, according to the Indo-Asian News Service. Police suspect that the bombs were left at the site by former employees whose contracts were terminated due to coronavirus-related restrictions. However, terrorist activity is also being considered. The cement producer said that no one was hurt in the incident and production at the site continues uninterrupted.
Peruvian police raid fake cement bagging plant
15 June 2021Peru: Police in Lima have raided a facility in Comas district where workers were packaging adulterated cement into branded cement bags. The La República newspaper has reported that authorities said "We have had the visit of representatives of these cement companies, and they have certified not only that these containers are not original, but also that the final product is not the one they offer to the community."