What restaurants once discarded is now being stolen for profit.
Organized crime groups are targeting used cooking oil from restaurants, stealing it to resell in the biofuel market.
Story Highlights
Thieves are targeting used cooking oil behind restaurants, often draining entire tanks within minutes
Companies say the stolen oil is entering the biofuel market through untraceable supply chains
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Used cooking oil from frying chicken, French fries, and other foods has become a growing target for organized crime, with companies reporting a rise in thefts.
Many restaurants store used oil in tanks that can hold hundreds of gallons. In some setups, oil flows from the kitchen through a tube into a locked container, which requires a special key to open — a precaution driven by increasing theft.
The pace of these thefts has become alarming.
“It’s not individuals for personal use. It’s organized crime… very organized,” said Jay Ford, general manager of VOCARS. “The feds were involved last year in a five-state operation… they confiscated $27 million in cash, along with 150 vehicles and 26 warehouses involved in the theft ring.”
Once discarded, used cooking oil is now a valuable commodity. After collection, companies filter, heat, and refine it for use in biofuels and animal feed, and restaurants are paid for it.
VOCARS, a Louisville-based company, collects used oil from around 3,000 restaurants across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. However, Ford said theft is cutting into supply.
“We usually have our drivers make about 22 to 24 stops in a day, and they might hit four or five of those where there’s nothing in the tank,” Ford said. “We’ve added customers, but our raw material tonnage has gone down — and it’s due to nothing but theft.”
The losses also affect restaurants. Some chains include waste-oil rebates in manager bonus structures, meaning stolen oil can reduce employee earnings.
The oil is valued at about $1.50 per gallon. Surveillance footage often shows thieves using homemade pumps and hoses to drain tanks into portable containers that can hold up to 300 gallons.
To address the issue, VOCARS is replacing older tanks with anti-theft containers that cost two to three times more.
Ford said the company plans to spend about $600,000 this year on new recycling bins and a private investigator, while still expecting losses between $300,000 and $400,000 due to theft.
“They’re eventually getting it into the biofuel market through unscrupulous brokers,” Ford said. “The product cannot be traced.”
Police have made some arrests, but Ford said securing convictions — particularly those leading to jail time — remains challenging.
For now, companies are tightening security, hoping stronger locks and upgraded containers will help curb a crime driven by something most people simply throw away.
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