NATO pipeline tapped: criminals sold kerosene to drivers Divided like a pizza: this utopian map was supposed to bring peace to Europe

At the end of the last decade, large quantities of kerosene were stolen from a NATO pipeline system and then sold at gas stations to unwitting drivers. As a spokeswoman for the defense alliance has now confirmed to the German news agency, criminals had tapped one of the pipes in the pipeline system before the theft in a field not far from the Belgian-French border. The crime was discovered in June 2019, it was said. This concerns approximately 800,000 liters of aviation fuel that was stolen.

A few days ago, the financial police in Rimini reported for the first time about extensive investigations into the case in Italy. According to them, the stolen kerosene was brought to Italy by a local gang and sold illegally to unwitting drivers. It was initially unknown whether there was any damage to vehicles. Italian police even stated that the amount of fuel stolen was approximately 900,000 liters.

The case is particularly explosive because the tapped Central European Pipeline System (CEPS) is an important part of NATO’s defense system. It covers Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and is designed to meet the Alliance’s petroleum products needs at all times. For example, it connects air bases such as those in Ramstein and Büchel in Rhineland-Palatinate with storage facilities, pumping stations and power points.

However, to keep operating costs as low as possible and increase pipeline utilization, the system is also extensively used for the transportation and storage of aviation fuel for non-military customers. According to information from NATO, it also supplies the major civil airports of Brussels, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Amsterdam and Zurich.

According to Rimini’s financial police, a criminal organization led by three entrepreneurs is allegedly responsible for the export of stolen fuel to Italy. They had the stolen kerosene brought to Italy to sell to unsuspecting customers through fuel dealers. Before the fuel was sold, it was stored in an illegal warehouse and mixed with diesel and oil.

According to the financial police, in addition to the three entrepreneurs, several dozen intermediaries were traced during the course of the investigation. They were involved in the sale of kerosene in several Italian regions. During the course of the investigation, assets worth several million euros were also seized under anti-mafia regulations.

The spokeswoman for the responsible NATO agency NSPA emphasized that no new cases have been reported since the theft in 2019. There is a multi-layered security system to protect the approximately 5,300 kilometer long CEPS network, she said. The Member States involved are doing everything they can to prevent further theft as much as possible. (rbu/sda/dpa)