“I always saw him coming at night and thought he was really working overtime!” a security guard remarked when questioned by police. The man referred to, surnamed Ma, was originally a maintenance technician in the workshop of an automobile manufacturing plant in Taizhou, Zhejiang province. Having joined the factory in 2018, he was considered a senior employee. However, no one expected that this "experienced worker" would embark on a path of no return after a "chance discovery."

One day, while in the welding workshop where materials were stored, Ma noticed a batch of leftover copper electrode caps. Gazing at these seemingly insignificant yet "valuable" copper components, greed took hold of him.

That evening, he pretended to come to the factory for overtime work. After swiping his card to enter, he stealthily made his way into the workshop. Handful by handful, he stuffed the copper electrode caps into his pockets, then carried them out of the facility and hid them in the trunk of his car parked at the entrance. Initially, he felt some apprehension, but after several days passed without anyone noticing the missing copper parts, he repeated his "overtime" act.

Like an ant moving its nest, he carried out this theft over ten times, accumulating around 50 kilograms before selling the stolen goods.

Thereafter, he became uncontrollable, frequently coming to "work overtime." It wasn't until the end of April this year that staff noticed a significant reduction in the number of copper electrode caps and temporarily installed surveillance equipment in the workshop.

At 3 a.m. on May 10, public video footage captured an employee entering the workshop and quickly leaving. Staff immediately recognized the person as Ma. Upon checking the clock-in records and factory gate videos, they observed that Ma's outer pockets appeared flat when he entered but bulging when he exited.

Consequently, the boss decisively reported the incident to the community police. Officers followed the leads and arrested Ma at his rented residence on the morning of May 14.

According to Ma's confession, from March 2025 to May 2026, he stole copper components at least 10 times per month on average, totaling over 150 instances. Currently, Ma has been criminally detained in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.