Peachtree City police crack down on cooking oil theft rings
Peachtree City thieves steal used restaurant grease
Thieves are siphoning hundreds of gallons of used cooking oil from metro Atlanta restaurants to resell for record prices, according to Peachtree City police.
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Police in Peachtree City are targeting multi-state theft rings that are siphoning used cooking oil from local restaurants and selling it for record prices.
What we know:
Thieves are targeting the grease bins located behind restaurants and bars where used cooking oil is disposed.
These bins are typically locked, but criminals are breaking in and illegally pumping the oil into large tanks inside vans and box trucks.
Lt. Chris Hyatt with the Peachtree City Police Department said, "It's not a localized problem."
Hyatt explained that the vast majority of offenders are from out of state, operating as part of an organization moving up and down the Southeast region.
Crews often make multiple stops in a single night, sometimes netting more money than bank robbers.
Why you should care:
Restaurants do not simply throw away their used cooking oil. Instead, recycling companies pay them to haul it away.
The recycled grease is then sold to manufacturers to create products like diesel fuel, jet fuel, plastics, cosmetics, livestock feed, and pet food.
With used grease selling for record prices, thieves are siphoning off 100 to 200 gallons at a time during illegal stops.
What's next:
Restaurants do not simply throw away their used cooking oil.
Instead, recycling companies pay them to haul it away.
The recycled grease is then sold to manufacturers to create products like diesel fuel, jet fuel, plastics, cosmetics, livestock feed, and pet food. With used grease selling for record prices, thieves are siphoning off 100 to 200 gallons at a time during illegal stops.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Fox 5 News reporter Doug Evans, who detailed the operations of the theft rings, as well as an interview with Lt. Chris Hyatt of the Peachtree City Police Department.