The Belgian federal police are currently working with Dutch police to deal with gangs of petrol thieves operating along the border. This was announced by the federal police spokesman, Peter De Waele. One of these gangs has already been identified. The offenders generally have the same MO. “They go to service stations with vans containing petrol tanks, and fill up on petrol after tampering with the pumps so the counter stays at zero”, explains Peter De Waele.
This way, the thieves can take 5,000 to 6,000 litres of petrol, or even up to 10,000 litres in some cases, without paying. The petrol is then sold to unscrupulous service station managers, truck drivers or businesses”, the police added.
This has been happening in all Belgian jurisdictions since last year. Police have called on the population to report suspicious behaviour and people spending an abnormally long time at service stations.
(Source: Belga)
