0:00:01 > 0:00:06It's the perfect criminal commodity. You're looking at the theft of
0:00:06 > 0:00:11something that is needed by the majority of the population.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14How did you get rid of the fuel you stole? I sold it on the streets.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18A huge number of motorists are tempted.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22They are selling that for less than 90 pence a litre.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25If you can get it cheap, you are prepared to do anything to get hold
0:00:25 > 0:00:30of it. That means breaking the law.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35I have a job to do. The brofts lining the pockets of
0:00:35 > 0:00:40organised crime. The people at the top of this are
0:00:40 > 0:00:45the terrorists of yesteryear, who would like to be the oil barons of
0:00:45 > 0:00:55tomorrow. Tonight, Panorama investigates the
0:00:55 > 0:01:02
0:01:02 > 0:01:06What we put in our tanks is the very lifeblood of the British
0:01:07 > 0:01:11economy. But fuel prices here are now
0:01:11 > 0:01:20amongst the highest in Europe, making our petrol and diesel more
0:01:20 > 0:01:26valuable than ever. But the rising cost of this
0:01:26 > 0:01:31commodity has put it at the heart of a massive black market. Tonight
0:01:31 > 0:01:36with exclusive access to those tackling it head on, we'll expose
0:01:36 > 0:01:41the multi-million pound hidden crime that stretches from the
0:01:41 > 0:01:45ordinary drivers of the garage forecourt, through to a dark and a
0:01:45 > 0:01:49dangerous underworld. A Manchester petrol station. This
0:01:49 > 0:01:55footage shows a motorist filling up the tank of his white car.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59He's about to take part in a crime which is costing the UK tens of
0:01:59 > 0:02:03millions. He's one of the country's most pro-
0:02:03 > 0:02:09I havic fuel thieves. He went to a represental company
0:02:09 > 0:02:13and hired a vehicle in his own name. He targets similar vehicles of
0:02:13 > 0:02:17those he rented, find a vehicle, steal a numberplate and stick that
0:02:18 > 0:02:22on to the vehicle he has hired. Pull up at a pump, in a separate
0:02:22 > 0:02:26area to where he has taken another plate from and steal large amounts
0:02:26 > 0:02:31of fuel. Hundreds of pounds in some cases. Often there are canisters in
0:02:31 > 0:02:36the back of the car to fill up whilst at the pump.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Strangeways Prison, Manchester. Now it is home to the next ten
0:02:41 > 0:02:44months to the fuel thief Detective Inspector Turner and his colleagues,
0:02:44 > 0:02:49where they have spent so long tracking them down.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53How did you get rid of the fuel you stole? I sold it on the streets.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Young kids would get on it. They would wave at you and laugh. Other
0:02:59 > 0:03:01people would get on it and smile. So, what do you take from that?
0:03:01 > 0:03:06crime would net Paul Rekia thousands.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10He saw it as easy money. I know it's criminal, but it was
0:03:10 > 0:03:15simple criminal, if you know what I mean.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21But, yeah, there is nothing complicated about it now.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Paul Rekia's case is far from a one off.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30This CCTV footage of other drive- offs from around the country.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35According to those who monitor forecourt losses across the UK, �15
0:03:35 > 0:03:41million of fuel was stolen in this way last year. Not everyone region
0:03:41 > 0:03:46is seeing an increase in fuel crime, but some police forces like Thames
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Valley are seeing significant rises. There are certain petrol stations
0:03:51 > 0:04:00where the repeats are literally running into the hundreds. If you
0:04:00 > 0:04:04extrapolate that into the force and nationally, you are talking
0:04:04 > 0:04:06hundreds of thousands of crimes and that is not reported by the petrol
0:04:06 > 0:04:11companies. In Superintendent Gilbert Houalla's
0:04:11 > 0:04:15force, forecourt drive-offs now account for a third of car re-lated
0:04:15 > 0:04:20crime. When we arrest people, we interview
0:04:21 > 0:04:24them and ask why, the feedbackis that there is a huge market for
0:04:24 > 0:04:29fuel. The trade body BOSS which
0:04:29 > 0:04:33represents the petrol stations says that they are working closely with
0:04:33 > 0:04:39the enforcement agencies to reduce the forecourt drive-offs. There is
0:04:39 > 0:04:43a new system to report these crimes more effectively.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Forecourt drive-offs are a crude and simple way of stealing fuel for
0:04:47 > 0:04:53the ordinary motorist who wants a free tankful. In the last two years
0:04:54 > 0:05:00the cost of petrol and diesel has risen by a third. 60% of the price
0:05:00 > 0:05:03that is paid at the pump is taxed. Such are the profits, that there
0:05:03 > 0:05:10now exists a new level of organised crime.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13It is early morning in Chelmsford, Essex. A team of Her Majesty HM
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Revenue & Customs officers are being briefed.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22We believe that one of the units where you are going, there is a
0:05:22 > 0:05:26track unit across the entrance. I've been allowed access to this
0:05:26 > 0:05:29specialist team of fuel fraud investigators. We have to protect
0:05:29 > 0:05:32some of their identities for security reasons.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36If there is any nonsense from anybody, I'm talking about
0:05:36 > 0:05:39obstruction, all of the rest of it, they are arrested, it is as simple
0:05:39 > 0:05:43as that. Good luck. Today's operation is a raid on a
0:05:43 > 0:05:50business that they believe is using illegal fuel.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55They'll be looking for red diesel, a subsidised or rebeated fuel that
0:05:55 > 0:06:00farmers and building contractors are legally allowed to use for off-
0:06:00 > 0:06:05road vehicles like tractors and diggers.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10I'm about to tern the target premises which is on the left.
0:06:10 > 0:06:16A team of officers goes on ahead to secure the yard.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20The liquid that they are looking for is dyed a distinctive cherry
0:06:20 > 0:06:26red colour to distinguish it from legal road fuel.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Hello? Right, what is in there? Let me have a look.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35It's against the law for anyone it use red diesel on the road. It
0:06:35 > 0:06:41means that the taxman is not being paid.
0:06:41 > 0:06:49Hello? Who is that? The owner of the tanker is contacted.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54I'm from HM Revenue & Customs... Well,iful, we can't wait. I have --
0:06:54 > 0:06:59well, unfortunately, we can't wait. I have a writ of assistance which
0:06:59 > 0:07:04gives me the authority to enter the premises, if necessary, by force.
0:07:04 > 0:07:14I'm not sill y, I have a job to do. With time against them, the team
0:07:14 > 0:07:23
0:07:23 > 0:07:33Inside the officers set to work dipping for fuel samples from every
0:07:33 > 0:07:34
0:07:34 > 0:07:37vehicle in the yard. The officers find what they came
0:07:37 > 0:07:41looking for. This should not be running on red?
0:07:41 > 0:07:46No. This is a fully taxed road vehicle. You will notice that the
0:07:46 > 0:07:53vehicle has the tax for the road. It is an offence, whether the
0:07:53 > 0:07:58vehicle is on or off the road. It is not just red diesel that this
0:07:58 > 0:08:02company is illegally profiting from. I think that this is aviation fuel.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07Aviation fuel? Yes. You can run aviation fuel in your
0:08:07 > 0:08:14car or in your truck? You would do serious damage to your vehicle.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20Right. Well, we found a tanker, a blue
0:08:20 > 0:08:24tanker full of contaminated fuel with red diesel that we have seized.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29There are two heavy goods vehicles driving on red diesel, a large
0:08:29 > 0:08:34transit van there, that is also on red. They've been seized. There is
0:08:34 > 0:08:38a tanker over there that looks like it has rocket fuel. We have to have
0:08:38 > 0:08:43that tested properly, but it is an illegal substance. So a lot of fuel
0:08:43 > 0:08:47here that should not be here and the business is obviously running
0:08:47 > 0:08:54on cheap diesel. But for many businesses illegally
0:08:54 > 0:08:59avoiding fuel tax seems the lesser of two evils when the alternative
0:08:59 > 0:09:03is going under. Three quarters of the transplant industry who
0:09:03 > 0:09:09instructed insolvency firms site the cost of fuel as the reason for
0:09:10 > 0:09:12closure. Others are selling up. Jim Dodd is a case in point. He ran
0:09:12 > 0:09:18his family's haulage firm in Maidstone for more than 30 years.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22He was faced with rising fuel costs in the UK and as we have the most
0:09:22 > 0:09:26heavily taxed fuel in the EU, he found himself up against
0:09:26 > 0:09:30competition from his rivals, operating on cheaper fuel from the
0:09:30 > 0:09:35continent. It is like having a boxing match
0:09:35 > 0:09:40with one arm tied behind my back. I have to have two hands to do my job.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45I had one. That is why I sold my 100-year-old family business.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49You felt you could not compete? It was not fair? It wasn't fair. It
0:09:49 > 0:09:54isn't fair. It is not fair it people doing the job. When I look
0:09:54 > 0:10:01at hauliers that I know, all family-owned companies, they ask
0:10:02 > 0:10:06how did I that? How did I get somebody to buy it? They would sell
0:10:06 > 0:10:09out tomorrow. I am on about big, big privately-owned haulage
0:10:09 > 0:10:14industries. You put this down to the cost of
0:10:14 > 0:10:17fuel? So, who is responsible for the cost? The trade body that
0:10:17 > 0:10:21represents the main oil refineries that supply the UK says it is not
0:10:21 > 0:10:26the oil company. We take in the UK, right through
0:10:27 > 0:10:31the supply chain, to the retailer it is good value. Relative to
0:10:31 > 0:10:36Europe we provide consistently the cheapest pre-tax petrol and diesel
0:10:36 > 0:10:40product in Europe. Once you put on duty and VAT, that is very much a
0:10:40 > 0:10:45different matter. So, you can see the bulk of that is really going to
0:10:45 > 0:10:50the Government. Around 60% of the price of the pump
0:10:50 > 0:10:53is taxed. We asked the Treasury for an interview, but they declined. In
0:10:53 > 0:10:57a statement they told us that the price of fuel is determined by a
0:10:57 > 0:11:01range of factors and the retail price is ultimately a commercial
0:11:01 > 0:11:05decision. They said that the estimated I lift
0:11:05 > 0:11:12market share for diesel in Britain has been reduced from 10% of the
0:11:12 > 0:11:16market to 4% over seven years. And as part of a �1.9 billion
0:11:16 > 0:11:21package to ease the burden on motorists they have introduced a
0:11:21 > 0:11:26range of measures that means that petrol is six pence a litre claeper
0:11:26 > 0:11:31than it otherwise would have been. -- cheaper than it otherwise would
0:11:31 > 0:11:35have been. This is Brooklands. The sight of the world's first racing
0:11:35 > 0:11:45circuit. Purpose-built when the price of fuel just did not come
0:11:45 > 0:11:48
0:11:48 > 0:11:58One man is now the public face of the Fair Fuel UK campaign, he is
0:11:58 > 0:12:01
0:12:01 > 0:12:04battle for cheaper fuel for all. You're not going to get much to the
0:12:04 > 0:12:09tpwalon driving like that? would be surprised.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Quentin Willson believes that the high price at the pump is skewing
0:12:13 > 0:12:18society's moral come pass. The fact that people are stealing
0:12:18 > 0:12:22fuel says two things, doesn't it? It says that it's become a
0:12:22 > 0:12:29different commodity to what it was two or three years ago and secondly,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33it is far too expensive and far too valuable now to be good and law-
0:12:33 > 0:12:37abiding and goo brunt, or to steal fuel, and I'm not for a minute
0:12:37 > 0:12:42condoning that, but to be in a situation as to say you have to
0:12:42 > 0:12:48steal fuel to keep the business going as it is being taxed too much.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52So if you can get it cheap, you are prepared to do almost anything to
0:12:52 > 0:13:02get hold of it But how far would ordinary people go to get their
0:13:02 > 0:13:02
0:13:02 > 0:13:11fuel on the cheap? Belfast, Northern Ireland.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17The famous street murals depict a long and bloody political struggle.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Those who develop the criminal practises used to fund this are
0:13:22 > 0:13:30focusing their attention on fuel crime and in the pursuit of profit,
0:13:31 > 0:13:37old enemies have come together. One former member of the Northern
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Ireland Affairs Committee has spent years monitoring organised crime
0:13:39 > 0:13:43and paramilitary activity in the province.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48The type of people that are probably involved at the top of
0:13:48 > 0:13:54this are the terrorists of yesteryear, who would like to be
0:13:54 > 0:13:58the oil barons of tomorrow. The advantage of tens of millions of
0:13:58 > 0:14:03pounds often will outweigh any parochial differences they may have
0:14:03 > 0:14:06held in the past. Does it surprise you? No, it
0:14:06 > 0:14:14doesn't. It doesn't surprise me. When you get into a post conflict
0:14:14 > 0:14:18era and people are looking fore -- for other illegal activities, they
0:14:18 > 0:14:23don't allow past prejudices to get in the way of a nice profit.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26In order to safeguard that profit and avoid detection, the organised
0:14:26 > 0:14:31criminals have turned their attention to the cheaper, lesser
0:14:31 > 0:14:35taxed red diesel. The gangs have been developing increasingly
0:14:35 > 0:14:40sophisticated ways of stripping out the red dye that marks it as being
0:14:40 > 0:14:50illegal for use on the road. It is called fuel laundering. Concealed
0:14:50 > 0:15:02
0:15:02 > 0:15:05in a barn on farmland, this footage A filtration system of pumps and
0:15:05 > 0:15:09bleaching agents remove the chemical markers and dyes from the
0:15:09 > 0:15:12rebated fuel. Its job, quite simply, to turn the red diesel into clear
0:15:12 > 0:15:15white liquid. To the naked eye, it now looks perfectly legal and is
0:15:15 > 0:15:21ready to be transported across the country for sale to ordinary
0:15:21 > 0:15:23motorists. I wanted to track down where the fuel is being sold. I'd
0:15:23 > 0:15:26heard about so-called huckster sites - pop-up petrol stations
0:15:26 > 0:15:33which sell this cheap illegal fuel to ordinary motorists, willing to
0:15:33 > 0:15:39turn a blind eye to its origins. In a backstreet lane in Belfast's city
0:15:39 > 0:15:49centre, I notice a small industrial yard. Tucked discreetly behind a
0:15:49 > 0:16:08
0:16:08 > 0:16:16Taxi after taxi drives in and fills The following day it's exactly the
0:16:16 > 0:16:19same. It doesn't look like any petrol station I've seen. The guy
0:16:19 > 0:16:26who does the filling up is very nervous, he's very suspicious,
0:16:26 > 0:16:32always looks around. But I am hoping I can have a chat with him.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Maybe he would be able to give me more information about illegal fuel.
0:16:35 > 0:16:42But having been warned about the kind of people involved in this
0:16:42 > 0:16:47industry, the only option is to film my approach secretly. Hello,
0:16:47 > 0:16:57how are you doing, can you help me? The man tells me he doesn't work
0:16:57 > 0:17:01
0:17:01 > 0:17:04here. He's just covering. Is there any way I can speak to whoever?
0:17:04 > 0:17:07This site here, right, is this like any kind of petrol station you
0:17:07 > 0:17:15would get on the mainland. Because you don't kind of get petrol
0:17:15 > 0:17:25stations like this. But you are acting like this is your first day
0:17:25 > 0:17:50
0:17:50 > 0:17:54It was clear I wasn't going to get any useful information here. The
0:17:54 > 0:18:01only way for me to find out more about sites like this one was from
0:18:01 > 0:18:07those who are all too familiar with the criminal gangs. This is
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Northern Ireland's HMRC illegal fuels team. It's dangerous work,
0:18:09 > 0:18:14often requiring heavily-armed specialist police units to escort
0:18:14 > 0:18:19them. Some jobs involve entering areas previously hostile to
0:18:19 > 0:18:29enforcement agencies of any kind. And shutting down operations at
0:18:29 > 0:18:32every level of this criminal But with all the back up in the
0:18:32 > 0:18:40world, in order to prove a crime has been committed in the first
0:18:40 > 0:18:43place, the officers sometimes have to go in alone. To find out more
0:18:43 > 0:18:46about illegal fuel in Northern Ireland and the pop-up petrol
0:18:46 > 0:18:55stations which sell it, we've been allowed to accompany the HMRC fuels
0:18:55 > 0:19:05team. They believe this fuel yard is run by criminals. An undercover
0:19:05 > 0:19:15purchase takes place. �20, please. The signs outside promise the
0:19:15 > 0:19:15
0:19:15 > 0:19:24cheapest fuel in Belfast. Thanks, love, cheers. Within minutes, the
0:19:24 > 0:19:26fuel is tested. It's illegal and the site is immediately taken apart.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It's one of 97 illegal pop-up petrol stations found in Northern
0:19:29 > 0:19:39Ireland in the last year, some reportedly selling fuel at almost
0:19:39 > 0:19:41
0:19:41 > 0:19:43half the normal price yet still making a very tidy profit. The
0:19:43 > 0:19:53following day I'm taken on another operation - one which demonstrates
0:19:53 > 0:19:56just how profitable this crime can just how profitable this crime can
0:19:56 > 0:19:59be. 86.9p a litre. Yes, Belfast diesel is �1.45 a litre and you are
0:19:59 > 0:20:09right, we have intelligence that taxi drivers have been acquiring
0:20:09 > 0:20:12
0:20:12 > 0:20:14for under 90 pence a litre. And there it is. 86.9. Unlike most
0:20:14 > 0:20:19illegal huckster sites, this one illegal huckster sites, this one
0:20:19 > 0:20:26has left a paper trail. Books of receipts for every transaction over
0:20:26 > 0:20:35the last year. This petrol station is taking in �22,000 a month. Every
0:20:35 > 0:20:38month. That's big money. For a place like this? Big money. Tests
0:20:38 > 0:20:42on the 10,000 litres of diesel found at the site should worry
0:20:42 > 0:20:46anybody putting this fuel into their tank. It's all cracked
0:20:46 > 0:20:51underneath as well, the whole thing is cracked. That is just from the
0:20:51 > 0:20:53chemicals that have been in these fuels. There has been acid used in
0:20:54 > 0:20:58this process or some other chemicals which is affecting the
0:20:58 > 0:21:03test tube. After tests confirm the fuel is illegal, the man working
0:21:03 > 0:21:13there is immediately arrested. As the officers prepare to dismantle
0:21:13 > 0:21:24
0:21:24 > 0:21:28the huckster site, a customer turns up. I was going to the Michalik's.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31He's been running on red. This guy has come to fill his car just as he
0:21:31 > 0:21:35would have at a normal filling station. He's got all the kids in
0:21:35 > 0:21:39the back of the car. Presumably if that is running on red, which is
0:21:39 > 0:21:42looks like it is, you would seize the car. If it is running on red,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46which it looks like it is, you would seize the car. That's a
0:21:46 > 0:21:51family car. To stop his car from being seized on the spot, the
0:21:51 > 0:21:53driver agrees to pay a �500 fine. Across the UK in the last year,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Customs have discovered 23 large- scale fuel laundering plants and
0:21:58 > 0:22:01raided 200 huckster sites like this one. But as fast as Customs are
0:22:01 > 0:22:04shutting them down, another is ready to take its place. And
0:22:04 > 0:22:13Ulster's fuel criminals may have set their sights on a much bigger
0:22:13 > 0:22:18market just across the water. The people at the top know there is
0:22:18 > 0:22:21a much larger market to appeal to in the UK in terms of fuel. There
0:22:21 > 0:22:26are over 55 million people to appeal to, particularly in terms of
0:22:26 > 0:22:29fuel. Here there are two million people. Once it gets across in the
0:22:29 > 0:22:39ferry or whatever transportation method that they use to get it to
0:22:39 > 0:22:43
0:22:43 > 0:22:52mainland GB, it's much easier Back across the water and it's
0:22:52 > 0:22:55clear just how widespread this crime is becoming. If high prices
0:22:55 > 0:23:00are fuelling the black market, it's ordinary motorists who are funding
0:23:00 > 0:23:10it. And enforcement agencies are finding illegal fuel being used in
0:23:10 > 0:23:12
0:23:12 > 0:23:16people's tanks. You put red in previous... Two weeks ago, only a
0:23:16 > 0:23:21gallon to keep it running because I did the clutch on it. This is the
0:23:21 > 0:23:26public face of fuel enforcement. Roadside stops and random tank dips.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Today we're with Revenue & Customs in South Wales. Within a few hours,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35several motorists are caught with illegal red diesel in their tanks.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I didn't put an awful lot in there, I can't afford it. Yes but it's an
0:23:38 > 0:23:42absolute offence. Last year, more than 3,000 UK motorists were caught
0:23:42 > 0:23:44running their cars on illegal fuel. But Customs know that random
0:23:44 > 0:23:49roadside checks will only catch a fraction of those drivers prepared
0:23:49 > 0:23:59to break the law in this way. And the police are starting to see fuel
0:23:59 > 0:24:05
0:24:05 > 0:24:12A closed petrol station on Birmingham's A34. A white tanker
0:24:12 > 0:24:19pulls into the forecourt. Two men in hi-vis jackets place vacuum
0:24:19 > 0:24:28pipes into the underground tanks. In full view of passing traffic,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31this petrol station is about to be completely sucked dry of its fuel.
0:24:31 > 0:24:41We were out on patrol, came off M6 motorway, travelling along this
0:24:41 > 0:24:43
0:24:43 > 0:24:47dual carriage, the A34, heading towards Birmingham City Centre. The
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Shell petrol station, we happened to see this white tanker on the
0:24:50 > 0:24:54forecourt, with somebody stood on top of it, as we drove past,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58believe it or not. All patrols, there's a fuel theft in progress at
0:24:58 > 0:25:04the service station just off junction 7 on the Walsall Road. The
0:25:04 > 0:25:07garage appears shut. As we pulled onto forecourt, still a chap on top
0:25:07 > 0:25:12of tanker, he was filling up petrol tanker from fuel he was stealing
0:25:12 > 0:25:19from underground tanks. As we pulled in, he saw us, decided to do
0:25:19 > 0:25:29a runner. So he literally leapt off the top of the tanker and then was
0:25:29 > 0:25:29
0:25:29 > 0:25:32on his toes running down A34 As the officers chase him down the
0:25:32 > 0:25:40road, the diesel starts to pour out of the tanker, dangerously close to
0:25:40 > 0:25:44a live generator. Never seen anything like it in my life, diesel
0:25:44 > 0:25:47running down the dual carriageway, down the A34. I'm not talking about
0:25:47 > 0:25:51a small amount of diesel, I'm talking, it looked like a water
0:25:51 > 0:25:54main had burst. As we got close to the petrol station, you could see
0:25:54 > 0:25:57it gushing out of the top of the tanker, running all down the side
0:25:57 > 0:26:03of it. It was running onto the generator which was obviously hot.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Thick, acrid smoke now fills the forecourt. By the time the officers
0:26:07 > 0:26:12return with one of the fuel thieves, the situation is threatening to get
0:26:13 > 0:26:16out of control. When we were stood there with this diesel flowing out,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19not really knowing what to do, he was the one that volunteered to go
0:26:19 > 0:26:25into the smoke and diesel and shut this thing down that was pumping
0:26:25 > 0:26:28out. In just six months, the White Tanker Gang sucked up a quarter of
0:26:28 > 0:26:34a million pounds' worth of fuel from dozens of petrol stations
0:26:34 > 0:26:39across the country. The ringleader, Rupert Camack. His two sidekicks -
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Colin Danby and Brendan Henry. Between them, the three received
0:26:41 > 0:26:48almost nine years in prison following a multi-force operation
0:26:48 > 0:26:51led by West Midlands CID. They knew what they were doing, they knew the
0:26:51 > 0:26:59petrol station they were going to have to target to get the value and
0:26:59 > 0:27:03volume of commodity of the diesel that they got. It was all planned.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06They would know when the deliveries were coming in. There is certain
0:27:06 > 0:27:10evidence to suggest they were fully aware of when deliveries were
0:27:10 > 0:27:13coming in - by six or seven o'clock in the morning. The tank that had
0:27:13 > 0:27:16been filled a number of hours earlier was totally empty. You are
0:27:16 > 0:27:20looking at the theft of something that is needed by the majority of
0:27:20 > 0:27:23the population. When somebody finds an opening in the market, it
0:27:23 > 0:27:31doesn't take long for other people to get involved and realise what is
0:27:31 > 0:27:36going on, and I think we'll be In January, the cost of fuel is set
0:27:36 > 0:27:41to rise by around 4p a litre. For us ordinary motorists, every
0:27:41 > 0:27:43increase is another dent in the wallet. But for the criminals,
0:27:43 > 0:27:50every price hike at the pump represents an opportunity for them
0:27:50 > 0:27:55to maximise their illegal profits. Remember our first huckster site in
0:27:55 > 0:28:05Belfast? Two weeks after we secretly filmed there, it was
0:28:05 > 0:28:12
0:28:12 > 0:28:18targeted by Customs. The fuel they were selling was illegal. The site