Officers from Italy's Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) announced on Tuesday that they were investigating 46 suspects in connection with the theft of a large quantity of kerosene from a NATO pipeline in 2019.
A NATO spokesperson confirmed to the German Press Agency that criminals had tapped a Central European Pipeline System (CEPS) pipeline near the French-Belgian border and siphoned off approximately 800,000 liters of fuel, with some Italian media reporting as much as 900,000 liters.
The fuel was brought to Italy where it was mixed with diesel and oil and resold illegally to motorists.
The operation was reportedly titled "Steal Oil" by the criminals. The operation involved several dozen middlemen who sold the fuel in various Italian regions. Following their arrest, assets worth 37 million Euros were seized by Italian Financial Police as part of anti-mafia regulations.
The Italian Financial Police are a branch of the Italian Economy Ministry that primarily deals with financial crimes and smuggling, as well as acting as customs and border police at the country's airports and ports.
The CEPs and NATO
The CEPS is used to transport large quantities of fuel around Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and France.
The system is around 5,300 km. long and is primarily used for transporting fuel to various European airports including both civilian airports (Frankfurt, Zurich, and Amsterdam) and military airports such as Rammstein and Büchel.
The theft raised questions about the security of the CEPS and its central importance to NATO strategy in Western Europe, although NATO spokespersons were quick to squash the possibility of more thefts, confirming that no more thefts had been detected since this theft in 2019.
He also said a multi-layered security system was in place to protect the CEPS network.
Five people were also arrested in Belgium in connection with the case and have since been found guilty, according to local news, with other cases still ongoing.