Thousands of gallons of cooking oil stolen; 21 indicted for conspiracy, immigration
Thousands of gallons of cooking oil stolen; 21 indicted for conspiracy, immigration violations
RALEIGH A federal grand jury has indicted 21 people in a conspiracy to steal and sell thousands of gallons of used cooking oil, an increasingly valuable waste product known as “yellow grease” used to make biofuels and pet food.
The thefts stretched across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, and involved pumping the oil out of restaurant storage tanks and transporting it inside box trucks, said a news release from U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon Jr.
Conspirators stored the stolen oil inside a Durham warehouse, where it was then transported to other states in a tanker-trailer. The oil rendering industry estimates between $45 million and $75 million in losses to oil theft each year, Higdon said.
“Used cooking oil has become a sought-after commodity by biodiesel companies, and restaurants use the sale of this oil as another source of revenue,” said John Eisert, acting special agent in charge of homeland security investigations in Charlotte. “This team of co-conspirators had an elaborate scheme to steal thousands of gallons of cooking oil for their own profit.”
A 100-pound load of “yellow grease” is worth $25, according to the most current U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
In April, police charged a Virginia man with stealing hundreds of gallons from a Burger King, according to the Associated Press. In 2014, three Illinois men faced charges of stealing more than 10,000 gallons of oil, the AP reported, having been arrested in a barn where they stored it.
The indictment names the following people indicted on charges of conspiracy and money laundering: Salvador Escalante, 43, of Mexico, aka “Billy Escalante, Ruth Nava-Abarca, 29, of Mexico; Florentino Valencia-Tepoz, 47, of Mexico; Gregorio Vazquez-Catillo, 43, of Mexico, aka “Jaime Castillo;” Juan De La Cruz-Gonzalez, 32, of Mexico; Samuel Cruz, 42, of Durham; Miguel Gutierrez, 24, of Henderson; Jaime Labra-Tova, 23, of Henderson; Oscar Ugalde-Escalante, 31, of Mexico; Hasan Ozvatan, 40, of Turkey; Emilio Gomez-Gonzalez, 36, of Mexico; Juan Maldonado-Hernandez, 28, of Mexico; George Luis Morales, 21, of New York, Toribio Escalante-Campos, 59, of Mexico; Eric Evo, 24, of Richmond, Va.; Ryan Mercado-Rodriguez, 24, of Henderson; Juan Lopez-Posada, 40, of El Salvador; Rene Espinoza-Torres, 45, of Mexico; Kelvin Fe Arellano-Valencia, 19, of Raleigh; Demetrio Valencia-Flores, 42, of Mexico; and Alvaro Mendez-Flores, 38, of Mexico.
One of them, Gomez-Gonzalez, was also indicted for failing to register with immigration officials. Five more were indicted on charges of alien harboring: Nava-Abarca, Valencia-Tepoz, Escalante-Campos, Ibarra-Escalante and Vazquez-Castillo. Four face charges of immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud: Ibarra-Escalante, Valencia-Tepoz, Nava-Abarca and Vazquez-Castillo.
Higdon said six of the defendants are still at-large: Nava-Abarca, De La Cruz-Gonzalez, Espinoza-Torres, Maldonado-Hernandez and Ozvatan. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is urged to call the Homeland Security Investigations Tip-Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or 1-866- 347-2423.
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