Selling 400-Won Fuel for 1,400 Won... Fake Oil Sales Organization Worth 1.5 Billion Won Cracked Down

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A group involved in manufacturing and selling counterfeit petroleum worth 1.5 billion KRW was caught in a joint investigation by the police and the Korea Petroleum Management Service.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 12th that they arrested 50 people, including the organization's suppliers and intermediaries, on charges of manufacturing and selling counterfeit petroleum, and detained 4 of them. According to the police, from February 2020 to October last year, they purchased 1.5 million liters of high-sulfur marine diesel at 400 KRW per liter, mixed it with regular diesel at a 1:2 ratio, and produced about 5 million liters of counterfeit petroleum. They are also suspected of conspiring with 21 gas stations nationwide in Daegu, Chungcheong, and Gyeonggi to sell the counterfeit petroleum at 1,400 KRW per liter, earning unfair profits worth approximately 1.5 billion KRW.

Police investigations revealed that the group formed a cell-like organization for supply, mediation, distribution, and sales to evade crackdowns, showing meticulous efforts to conceal identities at each stage. They also manufactured a vehicle to remove the dye from the marine diesel, which has a reddish color, bleaching it to the color of regular diesel, and distributed it during early dawn hours with little human activity to avoid leaving driving records.

Most of the 5 million liters of counterfeit petroleum they produced are known to have been distributed and consumed in the market. Marine diesel contains sulfur levels up to 50 times higher than regular diesel (below 10 ppm), causing serious environmental problems such as fine dust pollution. The police explained that about 130,000 liters of the remaining counterfeit petroleum have been disposed of, with 1 liter kept as evidence.

The police plan to continue crackdowns on counterfeit petroleum product sellers amid the era of high oil prices. A police official stated, "We will work to prevent tax evasion by raising awareness through crackdowns and blocking illegal distribution," adding, "We will also strengthen cooperation with related agencies such as the Korea Petroleum Management Service to enhance enforcement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.