Fleeting fuel

Stealing large amounts of automobile fuel is challenging for thieves simply because it is too heavy to physically take away. But two daring men pulled it off on 21 May when they burglarized a pumping station in Bridgeport, Nebraska, USA.

The mischief of Hander Prado Lopez, 35, of Houston, Texas, and Yanoarys Reyes Rojas, 41, of Northglenn, Colorado, was shortlived, however. The white box truck they used to haul away their loot was spotted by a Nebraska State Patrol trooper on Interstate 80 and they were arrested.

Upon inspection, the truck yielded the stolen 600 gallons of fuel worth $1,974 that was placed in four 400-gallon tanks. Court records showed 644 gallons of fuel were reported stolen from Lee’s Service.

A county court charged Lopez and Rojas with theft and possession of burglar’s tools.

In the Philippines, a Pasig City-based thief was even more daring as he singlehandedly stole more fuel than the two Nebraska burglars did.

The thief simply hacked the email of a company to gain access to its fleet card used for buying fuel for its vehicles, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

NBI investigators were able to trace the hacker’s address in Pasig City and arrested him there.

The suspect used the fleet card to fill up a truck with diesel for almost a month, 24 Oras reports.

“There was a purchase of gasoline of more than 1,000 liters. Sometimes 5,000 or more within a few hours. After this gasoline had been processed, they would store it, and sell it at a much, much lower rate,” NBI investigator Francis Señora said, according to 24 Oras.

Using the fuel card, the hacker stole diesel amounting to around P14.4 million, the report said.