Fuel theft, violence siphoning $215 mln from Ecuador oil industry

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STORY: Pits of oil like this one are popping up in Ecuador, as organized crime groups increasingly steal fuel from the state-run oil company, Petroecuador, the company and officials said.

Criminals steal gasoline, diesel and other fuel by tapping state-owned pipelines for use in making cocaine and transporting drugs.

The head of the National Police's Hydrocarbon Crimes Unit, Hugo Amores, says authorities estimate 30 thousand gallons of fuel a day are being stolen.

He says judicial changes need to be made to deter organized crime groups.

''if we do not have a forceful law, the work that both the national police and the armed forces do is

mocked. There we are talking about the revolving door of a hotel where the detainees enter and others go out the other side, then it does not have the legal effect or the operational effect that we want"

Petroecuador says fuel theft since 2022 has led to over $215 million in cumulative losses

Illegal taps have also grown from 32 to over 700 a year in that time.

Finding and removing the valves is a time-consuming and expensive process, and the valves also risk fuel spills.

Violent attacks on oil fields and their workers are growing, Petroecuador and its union say.

In recent years, Ecuador has been confronted with more drug trafficking related violence.

Once one of the safest countries of Latin America, Ecuador has seen a dramatic increase in homicide since 2019, according to the Ecuadorean Organized Crime Observatory.

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