“They come at night with small trucks, crack the tank locks and pump up to 600 liters out of one truck“, says policeman Mario Pekrul. Since the fuel prices up to more than 2.40 euros in some cases, such thefts are increasing, says Klaus Wiechmann, press spokesman for the Ludwigslust Police Inspectorate (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). “There hasn’t been so much diesel theft in freeway parking lots for years.”
Trucks and construction machinery are stolen
Police advise: refuel before departure
the police recommends closing in the morning before departure refuel. And even if the truck on their own depot, because thieves didn’t stop at them either.
Thieves are increasingly stealing hundreds of liters of fuel from tanks on truck tractors like this one.
What happens to the stolen goods? “Either it’s for personal use, it’s sold on as stolen goods, or it’s used as heating oil,” says Wiechmann. No wonder loud ADAC March 2022 was the most expensive tank month of all time, the diesel price rose from around 1.30 to 2.30 euros within a year!
Fuel scammer stopped after car chase
It is still unclear how much this will increase fuel fraud at the pumps police. Recently, a driver was caught on the A24 who simply didn’t have enough money to pay his fuel bill. And on the A 6 in the district of Ansbach (Bavaria), a gas swindler was only able to break free after a breakneck chase police being stopped. He had his diesel filled up without paying – for a stately 140 euros.
A fuel thief in Heidekreis (Lower Saxony), on the other hand, turned himself in to a certain extent. He fled with a full tank – but without checking the oil level, as one should do at every fuel stop. And remained after a few kilometers with a broken one engine lie.
