Law Enforcement Officials Conduct Overnight Gas Sting Operation On Long Island
BRENTWOOD, NY (CBSNewYork) -- An overnight sting operation on Long Island may have drivers even more upset about the prices at the pump.
LISTEN: WCBS 880's Sophia Hall With Cliff Coleman Of Suffolk County Consumer Affairs
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As gas prices continue to soar closer to $5 a gallon, law enforcement in Suffolk County is cracking down.
Tuesday night, officials from the Suffolk County Highway Patrol, the Petroleum Alcohol and Tobacco Bureau, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the district attorney's office staked out a spot just off the Long Island Expressway.
1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports
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Authorities then spent the night pulling over tanker trucks they suspected were transporting under taxed fuel onto Long Island.
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"They pay a tax to New York state for the gas when they pick it up. If they don't pay the tax because they say they're going to deliver it in, say New Jersey instead of Long Island, that can save around $2,700 per truck load if they have a 10,000 gallon truck," Suffolk County Highway Patrol Lt. David Geer explained to CBS 2's Jessica Schneider.
Officials believe some tanker drivers may be buying gas in much cheaper New Jersey and then selling gas to New York stations. Overnight, 19 trucks were stopped and six were taken out of service for various violations.
"A couple of them had problems with their manifests which mean that they are not in compliance with the tax code for fuel in their trucks," said Geer.
This type of activity may be getting more rampant as gas prices near to the $5 mark. At one station in Brentwood, gas is selling for $4.99 a gallon for self-serve and a $5.59 for full serve.
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