A major infrastructure theft case at Guyana’s critical Demerara River Bridge has seen a breakthrough, with a 39-year-old homeless labourer in police custody confessing to stealing nearly 90 feet of high-capacity copper cable worth an estimated GY$1.62 million, Guyana’s Deputy Police Commissioner Wendell Blanhum confirmed in a statement to Demerara Waves Online News on Thursday, 3 September 2026.
The suspect was taken into custody in the early hours of Wednesday night, just days after bridge staff first detected the theft. According to police records, the cable was stolen between midnight on 23 August 2026 and 9 AM on 1 September 2026. The stolen 350 thousand circular mils four-conductor cable powers the bridge’s decorative LED lighting system, which is mounted along the structure’s high span and supplied by an on-site generator. This lighting system is regularly used to display themed color schemes for regional and national events.
Bridge personnel only uncovered the loss when one side of the crossing failed to illuminate in the red, white and black of the Trinidad and Tobago flag on 31 August, set up to mark the CARICOM sister nation’s independence anniversary. That discovery triggered an urgent manhunt for the thieves.
Blanhum explained that the arrested suspect has admitted to stealing the cable and selling it to fund basic food purchases and illegal drug purchases. The unemployed labourer, who has no fixed address, has also cooperated with investigators, leading officers directly to a local scrap metal buyer who allegedly purchased the stolen materials.
Witnesses and investigative sources have cast doubt on the suspect acting alone, noting the stolen cable is extremely heavy, requiring coordinated cutting, loading onto a truck, and removal from the secured bridge site. Investigators also confirmed that the suspect was found wearing a standard safety helmet and high-visibility reflective vest—gear designed to make him pass as an authorized bridge maintenance worker, allowing him to operate on the site without raising early suspicion. He was also found in possession of industrial cutting tools suitable for severing the thick cable, sources added.
Investigations remain ongoing as police work to identify and apprehend any additional co-conspirators linked to the theft.