Fuel Theft Crime Wave Sweeps Scotland as Petrol Prices Soar
July 13th, 2008Via: Sunday Herald:
SCOTLAND IS in the grip of a new crime wave with organised thieves stealing tens of thousands of litres of fuel each day from farms, homes and petrol stations across the country. Record oil prices have made fuel a targeted commodity for gangs of criminals. Thieves are reselling the stolen fuel through independent, rural petrol stations or selling directly through a network of criminal contacts in Scotland’s major cities.
Police are now planning a severe crackdown on the crime wave. Lothian and Borders Police will tomorrow set up rolling road blocks in rural areas to stop traffic in the hope of catching thieves in transit. Strathclyde Police have launched a programme called Forecourt Watch to deal with the increasing numbers of drivers leaving petrol stations without paying.
Tayside Police are staking out rural areas late at night and stop every single vehicle spotted on the road after £14,000 of fuel thefts were recorded between March and June, with indications that criminals used a petrol tanker to syphon off the stolen fuel and carry it away.
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All Scottish forces have reported a dramatic rise in fuel theft. In Central Scotland Police’s jurisdiction, 5000 litres were stolen between January and March. Grampian Police have noticed a “concerning increase” in thefts, with five domestic storage tanks near Moray being robbed between March and June, and thousands of litres stolen from lorries left in an industrial park.
The thieves are so skilled that they are able to sneak into a car park and siphon the entire content of a lorry’s fuel tank whilst the driver sleeps in the cab.
They have also made widespread thefts of heating oil from domestic properties, and drained huge amounts of red diesel, an agricultural fuel, from storage tanks at farms, hauliers’ premises and industrial parks.
Since the beginning of May, there have been 12 incidents in the Lothian and Borders Police area alone. Last Thursday, more than 2000 litres were stolen from a remote farm near Penicuik.
