Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Read this article today. I wonder who gets in the most trouble: Those who steal and sell it, or those who use it? Makes a locking fuel cap go right to the top of my accessories to buy list...
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%7E20954%7E2237168,00.html
Diesel latest target of theft in farmlands
Rural bandits zero in on spiraling prices
By Dean E. Murphy
The New York Times
FRESNO -- Country living for the Nilmeier family has gotten a lot less charming these days.
"Now I can get a clear shot from my bedroom window at whoever is ripping me off," said Keith Nilmeier, pointing to a 450-watt industrial light mounted atop a wooden pole near his barn. And "I don't come to the door at night without a . 357 Magnum in hand. "
Nilmeier has yet to fire a shot since putting up his new night light, but thieves be warned: This fourth-generation farmer has had enough. In the past year or two, a pair of big rigs, three pickups and an assortment of tools have been stolen from him. And most recently, in the crime du jour of rural California, hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel have been siphoned from a storage tank in his peach orchard.
While drivers in Los Angeles and San Francisco bemoan some of the highest gasoline prices in the country, farmers such as Nilmeier, in the big agricultural expanse in between, are striving to keep their tractors and harvesters running at all.
"Right now, diesel is my highest cost aside from labor," Nilmeier said. "It is even higher than insurance. "
Diesel fuel stealing has quadrupled in the past several months in rural areas of Fresno County and in some other parts of the Central Valley, the nation's richest farming region and a land of plenty for thieves cashing in on spiraling prices. The price of diesel in California has risen 25 percent in the past year, according to the Department of Energy, turning it into the hottest black-market agricultural commodity around. Diesel in the Fresno area is now consistently over $2 a gallon, most recently 34 cents above the national average.
"The theft is really market-driven and price-driven," said William E. Yoshimoto, a supervising lawyer in the District Attorney's Office in Tulare County, southeast of Fresno, who oversees a valleywide program to fight agricultural crime. "You hope it is not someone stockpiling diesel fuel to make a bomb. "
While there have been big diesel thefts in other states -- five people were arrested in April in Palm Beach County, Fla. , for selling stolen farm diesel to truckers -- agricultural and law enforcement officials say California is in a category by itself. Diesel prices in the state are the highest; farmland extends across thousands of square miles, making it difficult to patrol; and there are untold buyers on the lookout for cheap fuel.
"It seems things start on the West Coast, so unfortunately we're the trendsetter," said Debbie Jacobsen, a grape farmer who is president of the farm bureau in Fresno County, where agriculture is a $4 billion-a-year business.
In the first 5 months of this year, authorities estimate, thieves in the eight counties that make up the Central Valley have stolen 46,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 30 percent more than in all of last year. The amount stolen is small when measured against total diesel consumption in the valley; Nilmeier, whose family farms about 500 acres and also runs a small trucking company, stores 50,000 gallons on his property alone.
But the loss of diesel is only the start of it. "The cost to farmers is exponential beyond the cost of the fuel," said sheriff's Lt. Jeffrey L. Johnson, commander of the Fresno County Agricultural Task Force. "When a farmer has to shut down operations for six or eight or 10 hours waiting for a shipment of fuel, he is losing money, slowing the harvest and delaying filling contracts. "
The authorities say small-time criminals with nothing more than a pickup truck and a 55-gallon drum are draining farm equipment with garden hoses by the light of the moon, while big-time operators are hauling off 5,000 gallons at a time -- sometimes with a tank and trailer in tow. One farmer in San Joaquin County got so fed up with the thievery that he filled a fuel tank with water. It was stolen, too.
In February, the police in Tulare County arrested a man in Porterville who has been charged with driving a stolen flatbed truck loaded with plastic drums of diesel fuel, about 950 gallons in all. The man, Jesus Sanchez, was apparently so unconcerned about being caught that the drums were not even covered.
"He was driving down the road sloshing diesel everywhere," said Sgt. Mike Renteria of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.
Pat V. Ricchiuti, a peach and almond farmer in Clovis, lost 800 gallons, a tank and a trailer to thieves last month. Perplexed as to how to avoid a repeat, Ricchiuti has resorted to removing the wheels and tires from his remaining trailers.
"The sheriffs tell me they found the same identical tire tracks of my stolen trailer at some of these other locations where fuel is being taken," he said. "They're using my trailer to steal other fuel. "
The diesel fuel situation has become so serious that at the Tulare County District Attorney's Office, Yoshimoto's group, the Agricultural Crime Technology Information and Operations Network, or Action, has made it a focus of dealings with the region's rural law enforcement agencies. The network, which is federally financed, has also placed surveillance equipment such as motion sensors and cameras in remote areas considered particularly vulnerable.
There have been a handful of arrests, but what frustrates many farmers is that so few thieves are being caught and that in all likelihood, the stealing is being tacitly encouraged by the fact that some farmers seem willing to buy the stolen fuel. A local state legislator has proposed stiffening the penalties for people convicted of stealing diesel, but Ricchiuti, the Clovis farmer, said that misses the point.
"It is kind of like prostitution, where you target the people who are the users and you then eliminate the supply," he said. "We have to go after the people who are buying the stuff. "
But the authorities acknowledge that as little as they know about the thieves, they know even less about the buyers. Much of the stolen fuel is so-called red diesel, meaning it has been dyed to indicate it is for agricultural purposes and is therefore taxed less than diesel for transport. Because of the stiff penalties truckers face if caught with it, law enforcement officials speculate that most of the stolen red diesel is probably going to other farms.
Many farmers, however, also use clear diesel. The fuel stolen from both Nilmeier and Ricchiuti was clear, and so it had a far larger number of potential buyers.
Ian Marty, a rural-crimes prosecutor in Tulare County, said some gas stations dispensed stolen diesel out the back door and truckers alerted one another to its availability though a special code on their CB radios. Thieves also frequent the back parking lots at truck stops, striking deals with drivers.
Nilmeier, who has a hand in farming and trucking alike, does not doubt that there are customers in both industries. "Economics," he said. "It's tempting. "
Though diesel prices have dipped somewhat in recent weeks, Nilmeier is not counting on the market's drying up any time soon. And even if it does, he says, the criminals will come looking for something else. He has embarked on an ambitious security offensive, which in addition to the 450-watt light includes new fencing and electric gates at his home and that of his elderly parents, a mile or so away.
One recent morning his father, Glenn, showed up at the irrigation pump in the peach orchard where thieves had cut through a lock and drained about 500 gallons of diesel fuel. Leaning out the window of his pickup, the elder Nilmeier, stern-faced and blunt-spoken, said it was hard not to take the theft personally.
"When I got married 55 years ago, we were so broke we borrowed $250 to get married," he said. "We made it. We made it honestly. "
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%7E20954%7E2237168,00.html
Diesel latest target of theft in farmlands
Rural bandits zero in on spiraling prices
By Dean E. Murphy
The New York Times
FRESNO -- Country living for the Nilmeier family has gotten a lot less charming these days.
"Now I can get a clear shot from my bedroom window at whoever is ripping me off," said Keith Nilmeier, pointing to a 450-watt industrial light mounted atop a wooden pole near his barn. And "I don't come to the door at night without a . 357 Magnum in hand. "
Nilmeier has yet to fire a shot since putting up his new night light, but thieves be warned: This fourth-generation farmer has had enough. In the past year or two, a pair of big rigs, three pickups and an assortment of tools have been stolen from him. And most recently, in the crime du jour of rural California, hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel have been siphoned from a storage tank in his peach orchard.
While drivers in Los Angeles and San Francisco bemoan some of the highest gasoline prices in the country, farmers such as Nilmeier, in the big agricultural expanse in between, are striving to keep their tractors and harvesters running at all.
"Right now, diesel is my highest cost aside from labor," Nilmeier said. "It is even higher than insurance. "
Diesel fuel stealing has quadrupled in the past several months in rural areas of Fresno County and in some other parts of the Central Valley, the nation's richest farming region and a land of plenty for thieves cashing in on spiraling prices. The price of diesel in California has risen 25 percent in the past year, according to the Department of Energy, turning it into the hottest black-market agricultural commodity around. Diesel in the Fresno area is now consistently over $2 a gallon, most recently 34 cents above the national average.
"The theft is really market-driven and price-driven," said William E. Yoshimoto, a supervising lawyer in the District Attorney's Office in Tulare County, southeast of Fresno, who oversees a valleywide program to fight agricultural crime. "You hope it is not someone stockpiling diesel fuel to make a bomb. "
While there have been big diesel thefts in other states -- five people were arrested in April in Palm Beach County, Fla. , for selling stolen farm diesel to truckers -- agricultural and law enforcement officials say California is in a category by itself. Diesel prices in the state are the highest; farmland extends across thousands of square miles, making it difficult to patrol; and there are untold buyers on the lookout for cheap fuel.
"It seems things start on the West Coast, so unfortunately we're the trendsetter," said Debbie Jacobsen, a grape farmer who is president of the farm bureau in Fresno County, where agriculture is a $4 billion-a-year business.
In the first 5 months of this year, authorities estimate, thieves in the eight counties that make up the Central Valley have stolen 46,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 30 percent more than in all of last year. The amount stolen is small when measured against total diesel consumption in the valley; Nilmeier, whose family farms about 500 acres and also runs a small trucking company, stores 50,000 gallons on his property alone.
But the loss of diesel is only the start of it. "The cost to farmers is exponential beyond the cost of the fuel," said sheriff's Lt. Jeffrey L. Johnson, commander of the Fresno County Agricultural Task Force. "When a farmer has to shut down operations for six or eight or 10 hours waiting for a shipment of fuel, he is losing money, slowing the harvest and delaying filling contracts. "
The authorities say small-time criminals with nothing more than a pickup truck and a 55-gallon drum are draining farm equipment with garden hoses by the light of the moon, while big-time operators are hauling off 5,000 gallons at a time -- sometimes with a tank and trailer in tow. One farmer in San Joaquin County got so fed up with the thievery that he filled a fuel tank with water. It was stolen, too.
In February, the police in Tulare County arrested a man in Porterville who has been charged with driving a stolen flatbed truck loaded with plastic drums of diesel fuel, about 950 gallons in all. The man, Jesus Sanchez, was apparently so unconcerned about being caught that the drums were not even covered.
"He was driving down the road sloshing diesel everywhere," said Sgt. Mike Renteria of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.
Pat V. Ricchiuti, a peach and almond farmer in Clovis, lost 800 gallons, a tank and a trailer to thieves last month. Perplexed as to how to avoid a repeat, Ricchiuti has resorted to removing the wheels and tires from his remaining trailers.
"The sheriffs tell me they found the same identical tire tracks of my stolen trailer at some of these other locations where fuel is being taken," he said. "They're using my trailer to steal other fuel. "
The diesel fuel situation has become so serious that at the Tulare County District Attorney's Office, Yoshimoto's group, the Agricultural Crime Technology Information and Operations Network, or Action, has made it a focus of dealings with the region's rural law enforcement agencies. The network, which is federally financed, has also placed surveillance equipment such as motion sensors and cameras in remote areas considered particularly vulnerable.
There have been a handful of arrests, but what frustrates many farmers is that so few thieves are being caught and that in all likelihood, the stealing is being tacitly encouraged by the fact that some farmers seem willing to buy the stolen fuel. A local state legislator has proposed stiffening the penalties for people convicted of stealing diesel, but Ricchiuti, the Clovis farmer, said that misses the point.
"It is kind of like prostitution, where you target the people who are the users and you then eliminate the supply," he said. "We have to go after the people who are buying the stuff. "
But the authorities acknowledge that as little as they know about the thieves, they know even less about the buyers. Much of the stolen fuel is so-called red diesel, meaning it has been dyed to indicate it is for agricultural purposes and is therefore taxed less than diesel for transport. Because of the stiff penalties truckers face if caught with it, law enforcement officials speculate that most of the stolen red diesel is probably going to other farms.
Many farmers, however, also use clear diesel. The fuel stolen from both Nilmeier and Ricchiuti was clear, and so it had a far larger number of potential buyers.
Ian Marty, a rural-crimes prosecutor in Tulare County, said some gas stations dispensed stolen diesel out the back door and truckers alerted one another to its availability though a special code on their CB radios. Thieves also frequent the back parking lots at truck stops, striking deals with drivers.
Nilmeier, who has a hand in farming and trucking alike, does not doubt that there are customers in both industries. "Economics," he said. "It's tempting. "
Though diesel prices have dipped somewhat in recent weeks, Nilmeier is not counting on the market's drying up any time soon. And even if it does, he says, the criminals will come looking for something else. He has embarked on an ambitious security offensive, which in addition to the 450-watt light includes new fencing and electric gates at his home and that of his elderly parents, a mile or so away.
One recent morning his father, Glenn, showed up at the irrigation pump in the peach orchard where thieves had cut through a lock and drained about 500 gallons of diesel fuel. Leaning out the window of his pickup, the elder Nilmeier, stern-faced and blunt-spoken, said it was hard not to take the theft personally.
"When I got married 55 years ago, we were so broke we borrowed $250 to get married," he said. "We made it. We made it honestly. "
