New Bedford restaurants targeted in cooking oil thefts

Several restaurant owners in New Bedford, Massachusetts, reported thefts of used cooking oil earlier this week. Surveillance footage from G&S Pizza showed thieves using a truck, a hose, and a pump to extract oil from the establishment’s grease trap.

Other local businesses, including Mikey B’s and Cafe Roma, also reported being victims of similar break-ins, with much of the stolen oil being spilled in the parking lots during the incidents. Police noted that used cooking oil is often stolen to be sold on the black market for use in manufacturing biodiesel.

These incidents follow a series of similar thefts across the state. Recently, two men from New York were arrested for thefts in Beverly, and a group from Worcester was also linked to attempted oil thefts at two restaurants earlier this month.