HCM City cops arrest petrol thieves at Nhà Bè Petroleum General Depot

September 18, 2017 - 21:31

The HCM City police have arrested 13 people for allegedly stealing aviation fuel that was being transported in tanker trucks from the Nhà Bè Petroleum General Depot on the city’s outskirts.

The HCM City police have arrested 13 people for allegedly stealing aviation fuel that was being transported in tanker trucks from the Nhà Bè Petroleum General Depot on the city’s outskirts.– Photo dantri.com.vn

HCM City – The HCM City police have arrested 13 people for allegedly stealing aviation fuel that was being transported in tanker trucks from the Nhà Bè Petroleum General Depot on the city’s outskirts.

After two months of investigation officers last Friday afternoon surrounded three places around the depot and caught three truck drivers red-handed along with 10 other accomplices while on the way to Tân Sơn Nhất airport.

At number 33 Đặng Nhữ Lân Street in Nhà Bè town, Lê Anh Tuấn had stopped his truck with 25,000 litres of fuel allowing his assistant Nhan Tấn Trí and Trần Văn Thành to siphon off 19 cans of 30 litres each.

The owner of the house and alleged ring leader Ngô Thị Thanh Huỳnh was also arrested. The police said the gang would have stolen another 30 cans of fuel if they had not turned up.

Huỳnh was to have paid VNĐ240,000 (US$10.7) to the driver for a can, which she would then sell for VNĐ270,000 ($12).

At exactly the same time at Dương Cát Lợi Street nearby, five others were arrested after Phạm Trí Hùng stopped his truck also with 25,000 litres to allegedly sell stolen fuel to Nguyễn Minh Trí, 45.

The police discovered 14 cans with petrol, 63 empty ones and some incriminating papers.

They said around 2,300 litres of fuel were to have been sold with the driver getting VNĐ18.4 million ($822) and the middlemen, VNĐ2 million ($90).

A four-member ring led by Vũ Thị Thu Nguyệt was arrested at 24/3, Đào Tông Nguyên Street in Nhà Bè.

The police said Nguyệt confessed to starting the illegal business early this year, buying petrol from three or four trucks every day.

Stealing petrol from trucks is thought to be going on for a long time in the area.

Investigations are continuing. -- VNS

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