NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A three-year investigation by undercover agents with the 18th Judicial Drug Task Force (JDTF) reveals a crime syndicate of thieves from China stealing used cooking oil from restaurants across the Mid-South.
This little thought of commodity has a large resale value to recycling companies that turn the old oil into other products, including biodiesel and clean burning fuels for automobiles and homes.
Most restaurants store their used oil in tanks behind their businesses. They usually contract with legitimate companies that extract the oil and pay the restaurant for the product based on weight.
A restaurant might not even realize they have been victimized if they don’t monitor their video surveillance systems or check their storage containers regularly.
According to agents with the 18th JDTF, the thieves have been driving to these businesses in unmarked box trucks and cyphoning off the oil from the restaurants.
According to the agents, the trucks are equipped with pumps, hoses, and 1,600 gallon tanks.
“So what you will see here is a box truck backed up to a tank, two subjects out back of the truck, they drop in what we call a stinger to suck out the used oil out of the container. It can be very lucrative if you are filling up 1,600 gallons,” an agent, who shared an undercover video with News 2, said
Authorities said not only have the thieves hit Murfreesboro and Hendersonville, but they also hit locations in Alabama, Iowa, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.
“Homeland security was able to identify everyone that we have involved,” an investigator told News 2.
Agents said the thieves interviewed by agents with the 18th JDTF have driver’s licenses from New York, California, and Georgia.
Authorities have stopped some of the drivers in the trucks while making some arrests.
Agents said sometimes investigators are unsure what is happening and don’t quite know what to charge the men with because the value of the oil is not readily known to patrol officers. Agents also said the men who are arrested don’t speak English and that also adds to the difficulty in prosecuting cases.
“They are stealing from Champys, he is about to open the lid or pry the lid up so the stinger hose can get in,” an agent viewing video from a Murfreesboro restaurant told News 2.
If you’re wondering where these box trucks go after being filled with stolen cooking oil, the investigation led authorities to a non-descript warehouse in Lewisburg.
“It’s a legitimate warehouse; they were renting it for a little over $4,000 a month,” an investigator said.
Inside the warehouse, investigators found several box trucks and equipment, including multiple 2,000-gallon storage tanks where the oil is processed.
“We recovered a little over 18,000 of used cooking oil,” authorities said.
According to agents, the thieves then sell their stolen oil at huge profits to legitimate company’s who don’t realize the oil has been stolen.
Agents showed News 2 a surveillance picture of a tanker truck from a legitimate company filling up with stolen cooking oil at the Marshal County warehouse. The agent said the tanker truck and his company had no idea that the oil was stolen.
“It could be worth $50,000,” the agent said. “It is a very unnoticed crime. A lot of times, your victims will notice that their oil is stolen and these guys are usually three days gone by the time anything is realized that it might be missing.”
A national company that legitimately collects used cooking oils estimates more than $75 million of used cooking oil is stolen every year in the U.S.
The question is where is that money going?
Lt. Jason Arnold with the 18th JDTF has been studying the financial spider web of the crime syndicate for the last three years. He said the organization is complex and effective in its ability to launder funds before sending that money out of the country.
“They transfer it, wire transfers to other dummy corporations, such as Chinese telecommunications companies or Chinese American car dealerships,” Arnold said.
When asked if this was a national security issue, Arnold said, “It very well could be. There’s a lot of money movement, and it is not just Chinese cells; there’s Russian cells, there’s South American cells, just the group we got a hold of were Chinese nationals; of course the money is going back to China.”
Arnold added his biggest concern is where the money could be going.
“It’s so well organized and so huge,” he said. “The money is going into different accounts that are kind of concerning. It’s overseas.”
And when asked if it could be funding terrorism?
“It is possible. We don’t know. It is concerning. It could be used to make certain organizations even richer or it could be used for nefarious purposes; we just don’t know,” Arnold said.
Agents told News 2 the 18th JDTF has so far recovered over 18,000 gallons of stolen used cooking oil, five box trucks, three additional vehicles, a small amount of cocaine, over $500,000 in cash, and fraudulent business accounts. Several people have been arrested and there are pending indictments for others.
The investigation is on going.
