Police arrested four men allegedly involved in fuel pilfering, locally known as ‘paihi,’ during a late-night operation on Wednesday in Alaminos, Laguna.
The Police Regional Office 4A said local police, assisted by barangay tanods (village watchmen), were conducting a routine patrol when they caught the suspects in the act of siphoning fuel from two tanker trucks along the Alaminos-Lipa City bypass road in Barangay San Miguel at around 11 p.m.
The suspects were identified by their aliases as ‘Roberto,’ 34; ‘Fernan,’ 33; and ‘Mark Paolo,’ 28 – all drivers – and a helper, ‘Jericho.’
Authorities said about 400 liters of petroleum products, valued at P40,000, had already been siphoned and transferred into a drum inside a Mitsubishi L300 van driven by Mark Paolo.
The theft is called ‘paihi,’ a Filipino term that refers to the act of urinating and now means siphoning fuel from a tank or depot.
The suspects were taken into custody and are set to face criminal charges.
The two tanker trucks and the van used in the operation were impounded.