Four men, including an employee of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), were taken into custody Tuesday after they were reportedly caught stealing gasoline from one of the company's buses in Kingston.
Radio Jamaica News was informed that about 10 o'clock, a police team from the Kingston Central Division confronted a group of men who were seen removing petrol from a JUTC bus at the intersection of Marlborough Avenue and Waggonette Crescent near North Street.
The police found pumps, hoses, fuel bottles and a hole carved into the gas tank of the bus.
Four men, including the driver, were arrested.
Investigators believe the operation in Central Kingston may have cracked a major petrol stealing ring.
In addition to the tools found at the scene, more bottles, seemingly ready to be filled with fuel from the bus, were found at a house nearby.
Fuel theft costs the JUTC billions of dollars yearly, with the company projected to register at least $8 billion in losses this fiscal year.
While representatives of the JUTC declined to comment on Tuesday's arrests, the entity's managing director, Paul Abrahams, had told Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) in July that pilferage remains a major issue.
Added to that, he said the problem has been compounded by collusion between the thieves and some workers at the state-run entity.
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