- There are three men who are suspects, two in the 40-50 age group and a youngster who is under 18 years. When we stopped the car, the suspects also involved drug theft and illegal driving, all three are now suspected of theft preparation, says Robert Loeffel.
- Especially in Kalmar County, we notice a marked increase. Just last week (week 41) we had 18 applications, says Robert Loeffel.
It is primarily about the areas around Torsås and Mönsterås. These are mostly small-scale thefts, where tank caps are drilled up and 10-30 liters of gasoline are stolen. In those cases, the police suspect that it is "local capabilities in various constellations" who then resell the gasoline at a cheaper price.
There are also occasional cases where petrol from various companies is stolen, these thefts moving around 500 liters to several cubic meters of gasoline. In these cases, the police suspect that they are foreign leagues.
Protection for individual car owners
Can car owners somehow protect themselves from these thefts?
- It is very difficult but maybe if you park in an illuminated place where people usually move. If you have the car set up for a long time you should not have much gasoline in the tank but on the other hand it is not visible on the outside, it does not know the thief, says Robert Loeffel.
He also emphasizes that the police are grateful if the public hears if they see something suspicious happening in parking lots so that the police can intervene.