“We’re not sure exactly what the fuel was being used for either it was being sold or whether they were using it for any type of narcotics,” Wheeler said.

They said he outfitted the U-Haul with hoses that pumped directly into the barrels, but why he was allegedly stealing the fuel and what he may have been doing with it are still a mystery at this stage of the investigation

Yea, clearly the police out there have ZERO imagination about anything. Hmm... Getting a FUEL from a FUEL STATION, pumping into large barrels inside a truck.

Must be baking a cake with it, or some narcotic use that we smrt policeymen can't figure out. </sarcasm>

Idiots. Does everything HAVE to have a drug connection? Like UFO said - Maybe its destination use was to fuel vehicles? Sounds like a simple credit-card-fraud-to-steal-gasoline scam that has been done in Florida LOTS of times, except this time they chose an environmentally friendly fuel that would have a much more limited end-user market for the crooks. In Florida, they sell the stolen gas right from the collection trucks (or a modified trailer in one case I saw) for like $1/gallon. Anyone who buys this stuff HAS to know it isn't *quite* on the up-and-up, but they also are the type to not ask questions.

The trailer was kinda cool, the crooks designed it to park right over the station's filling covers, and they would suck the fuel directly from the ground, bypassing the pumps completely. That was eventually made into a CSI Miami plot for an episode. In this case, it seems like the person doing the stealing wasn't too bright, and left the back of the truck open. Oopsie, you aren't supposed to let the gas station monkey see your unusual storage system!