Saskatchewan RCMP has seen a spike in the number of fuel thefts.
Statistics from 2022 show thefts were up by 70 per cent compared to 2021. Incidents are continuing in 2023.
RCMP reports were from all over Saskatchewan. In total 818 reports were made about the theft of diesel or gas in 2022.
Most reports were of vehicles fueling at a service station and then leaving without paying, however, 117 reports were made of theft by drilling large fuel tanks or fuel siphoning from heavy machinery. Another 106 reports were about fuel being stolen from tanks at businesses, farms or rural municipalities.
The highest number of reports came from Battlefords (61), Saskatoon (58), Shellbrook (46) and Swift Current (39).
On Feb. 27, Punnichy RCMP reported two incidents of gas-tank drilling.
Ray Orb, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, says he is not surprised by the numbers.
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“Fuel is a hot commodity right now, both gasoline and diesel are expensive. There are probably people out there that are hurting financially, so they are trying to take these commodities from others to either sell or keep for themselves.”
Orb recommends reporting any instances of theft to the RCMP and to get connected with local rural crime watch networks.
Perry Giannios, co-owner of the Tempo Gas Station on Highway 7 outside of Saskatoon, says he and his brother are worried about the fuel theft trend. Especially after the break-in they had in 2020.
“The thieves made off with some fuel after breaking into one of our tanks. We reported the incident to the RCMP, but the thieves were never found. To prevent that in the future, we had more cameras installed and improved our lighting around the building. We hadn’t had an issue since then.”
Giannios says switching to a pre-paid system five years ago, where the customer has to leave their credit card information before getting gas, has made pumping and running basically impossible.
However, Giannios says several nearby farms have had fuel stolen from tanks on their property during the evenings.
The RCMP recommends owners of private fuel tanks always ensure they are always locked and well-lit. They said setting up video or photo surveillance and not leaving vehicles unattended may also help prevent fuel theft.
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