TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier held a news conference Thursday morning with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to discuss the dismantling of a large-scale diesel theft operation.
Ten out of 11 suspects have been arrested in the nearly six-month investigation “Operation Van Diesel,” which led to the end of a criminal enterprise that committed 350 thefts across 70 locations in 13 counties, including Orange and Osceola, Chronister said in Tampa.
“Our office was notified from some fuel centers here in Hillsborough County that they had discrepancy of fuel on hand, fuel that was supposed to be on hand versus what was actually on hand. The case was turned over to our organized crime unit, who immediately observed that this was a trend,” the sheriff said.
Some 185,000 gallons of diesel fuel were stolen — a retail value of around $650,000 — and seven of the 10 arrested suspects have no legal standing in the U.S., according to the sheriff.
“Most of the thefts occurred late at night. They would pull up in a van — usually a Dodge or Chrysler van, sometimes pulling a trailer, sometimes not — and they would pull on top of the covers, the metal covers that cover the in-ground storage, diesel fuel tanks. They would move the piece of metal, whatever they had in the floor, with these makeshift tanks, 500 gallon tanks in these vans, and they would lower their pump into the tank and within minutes could steal 500 gallons of diesel fuel. They would then take this fuel to large tractor storage facilities and sell the fuel for $2 a gallon. $2 a gallon, when the national average is about $3.74 a gallon,” Chronister said.
Uthmeier otherwise announced the state will issue subpoenas to the employer of Harjinder Singh, the semitruck driver accused of causing a crash on the Turnpike in South Florida that killed three people last month.
“This guy did not know how to speak English. He could not read road signs. He never should have received that CDL license in the first place. Not only was he illegally here in the country, but he also did not have the competency, the skill set; there’s no way he went through the proper training in order to get this license,” Uthmeier said. “In addition, we’ve sent legal demands to both states, Washington and California, to get as much information as possible in how this individual obtained these licenses.”
Watch the news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.