One man is in custody for allegedly stealing used cooking oil from a Chick-fil-A location on Long Island. The Huntington Station restaurant has been hit several times since January — and police say it is part of a pattern.
Hector Castrol-Espinal of Woodside was arrested Wednesday, charged with siphoning used oil from the fast food restaurant at least five times this year.
So what makes the grease — which would seem to be something restaurants are looking to get rid of anyway — so special? Used cooking oil has become a hot commodity on the black market, putting hundreds of restaurants at risk.
Taqi Mohammad stores the used cooking oil in barrels outside his Indian restaurant. He can’t understand he says why anyone would steal it.
"We make curry. It’s gonna stink. Why you want to be near oil that stinks?" he asked.
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But Suffolk police said that thieves have recently made it a priority to steal used cooking oil from restaurants. What makes it valuable is that it can be reprocessed into renewable diesel or biodiesel fuel. It’s also used in cosmetics and animal feed.
The robbers can bring a van with a barrel of some kind in the back, then fill the barrel up with the oil and take it to a reprocessing place, according to Suffolk County police. There have been possibly more than 100 cases of stealing used cooking oil across Suffolk County in 2023, police said.
"It has a lot of value what we call 'liquid gold,'" said Patrick McCall, who works as an investigator for cooking oil companies to curb restaurant thefts.
Police are asking restaurant owners to increase security around their oil tanks. Mohammad says from now on, he plans to take that advice seriously.
"If it is something hazardous, I should put a lock on it," he said.
