What to Know
- A total of 11 people across Miami-Dade County have been charged in an illegal fuel and credit card theft operation.
- NBC 6 cameras captured one man at a Doral gas station, where police say that – while using a stolen credit card – he got 115 gallons.
- Box trucks were reconfigured to carry a huge amount of fuel that’s allegedly sold to middlemen and then ends up at gas stations.
Police say they have put an end to a widespread operation to steal fuel in South Florida – one that put all residents in potential danger.
A total of 11 people across Miami-Dade County have been charged in an illegal fuel and credit card theft operation that detectives say was moving thousands of gallons of fuel a day. Miami-Dade Police’s Economic Crimes detectives and agents from the Secret Service combined in the operation.
Officials said the ring was making nearly $110,000 a month. Three suspects still remain at large.
NBC 6 cameras captured one man at a Doral gas station, where police say that – while using a stolen credit card – the man and his lookout spent about 15 minutes pumping 115 gallons worth of fuel.
“Basically what you have here is a rolling bomb,” said Det. Marcos Rodriguez of Miami-Dade Police. “They will either take diesel or fuel and, as everybody knows diesel and fuel are very volatile. You have these trucks rolling down the street with basically no protection.”
Box trucks were reconfigured to carry a huge amount of fuel that’s allegedly sold to middlemen and then ends up at gas stations.
"Any spark can cause an explosion in one of these vehicles. In the past we have had vehicles explode, we have had vehicles combust just pretty much sitting in a parking lot," Rodriguez said.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Miami-Dade state attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle said an anonymous tip began the investigation eight months ago.
