United Kingdom: edible oil targeted by criminals who turn it into biodiesel
Criminal gangs across the UK have targeted pubs and supermarkets to steal cooking oil, as prices soar in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The alarming news is reported by the Daily Mail and shows the effects of the doubling of prices following the conflict in Ukraine, which was never completely reversed.
An underworld source told The Mirror that vegetable oil is "fast becoming liquid gold", in relation to a series of thefts across the country over the past two years. The problem arises from the fact that Ukraine and Russia were among the largest producers of sunflower and that even today large swaths of land are not cultivated due to the conflict.
Added to this is another problem: the police have raised alarms because there is the possibility that the underworld is using these oils to produce illegal biofuels.
Last year, two men were accused of stealing used cooking oil from five pubs in the space of one day in October 2022, and were caught posing as officers collecting used oil.
Also in October 2022, a gang who had traveled over 160km to try to steal barrels of cooking oil were stopped by brave supermarket staff who stopped them on the spot.
The cost of theft to businesses is tens of millions of pounds. Former Met detective Peter Bleksley told The Mirror: “I estimate tens of millions of pounds have been stolen in total. This will have a huge impact on trade." Used cooking oil has even been stolen to make diesel fuel which is then sold for just under 1.5 pounds per litre. The police advised people to be careful when they see anonymous vans with large drums on board.
Police have urged business owners to check oil levels frequently, install lockable fences and CCTV cameras and to remain vigilant in the face of increasing reports. The National Business Crime Center also published a similar guidance document, attributing the rise in oil prices for the relative increase in reported thefts.
Cooking oil thefts are thought to cost the Exchequer, on average, £25 million a year in lost revenue and this figure is set to rise,” he warned.
Unfortunately, only a drop in fuel and oil prices can lead to a decline in the activity of these criminals, but, for now, this prospect is still distant.
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The article United Kingdom: edible oil targeted by criminals who turn it into biodiesel comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/regno-unito-lolio-alimentare-nel-mirino-dei-criminali-che-ne-fanno-biodiesel/ on Sun, 14 Jan 2024 06:30:32 +0000.