Aviation gas stolen by airport staff, sold in bulk  Mr. Chau delivered jet fuel to a grocery owned by a woman named Dung in an alley on Nguyen Van Dau Street in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre Investigation by Tuoi Tre revealed that airport staff stole aviation gasoline, or white gas or Jet oil as it is commonly known, and sold it to dealers in broad daylight in Ho Chi Minh City. After spending days roaming the areas surrounding Tan Son Nhat airport, Tuoi Tre reporters found that white gas, a high-octane gas used for aircraft, has been stolen by airport staff and sold illegally to dealers. Avgas, short for aviation gasoline, is different from mogas, or motor gasoline, which is used for automobiles. Though the imported white gas fetches higher prices than other types of gas, it is sold illegally at lower prices than those of ordinary gases.  Going ‘night hunting’ At 0 am on Nov 23, Tuoi Tre reporters were present at the Bach Dang-Hong Ha T-junction near Tan Son Nhat airport in Tan Binh district, the road most taken to transport fuel to the airport. At 2 am at the white gas ‘trading’ hotspot near swimming pool 108, some 400 m from the Tan Son Nhat gate, Huong, a gas dealer, was lurking in the dark next to her red bike with the license plate numbered 53P2-9265. A deliverer with six cans of jet petrol coming home after receiving gas from the tank truck on Hong Ha Street. Photo: Tuoi Tre. Earlier, she had had her four 30-liter cans filled to the brim with the gas. 15 minutes later, a tanker loaded with white gas pulled over. The driver instantly handed 2 big-sized cans from his cabin over to Huong. Past 3 am, 2 yellow tankers with the words ‘VN Air Petrol Company – Jet A1’ on their trunk also pulled over and dropped 4 similar cans where Huong was hiding. A jet fuel tank truck belonging to VN Air Petrol Company parked in an area near Tan Son Nhat Airport to illegally sell jet fuel. Photo: Tuoi Tre. By 3:30 am, Huong had gathered 6 cans. Fraud In an interview with Tuoi Tre, Hoang Manh Tuan, CEO of Aviation Petrol Co. (Vinapco), admitted to the fact that a number of his staffers and tanker drivers are suspected of stealing white gas from the company and fraudulently selling it to dealers. However, he has not gathered enough evidence to bring them to justice. According to Tuan, Vinapco has tightened control to minimize frauds in gasoline transportation. “However, whenever we loosen our control, they are active again,” Tuan noted. The company has imposed penalties on a number of staffers, with the lightest being admonition and dismissal. Those who correctly tip the company managers on gasoline frauds are rewarded, Tuan stressed. Like other dealers, Huong often begins her ‘hunting’ trips very early in the morning. She buys at least 6 cans of white gas a night, and up to 12 on good days. Dealers buy white gas for some VND 15,000-18,000 (US$ 0.7-0.9) a liter, and sell it for VND 22,000-26,000 a liter. Chau, another dealer in the Bach Dang-Hong Ha area, often buys white gas in bulk. “I often see tankers drop cans of white gas where dealers are waiting. From midnight to before dawn, a lot of bikers loaded with cans roam the streets,” a local said. “Previously, tankers would pull up and have the gas pumped out. Now they pump the gas into cans before selling them to dealers to save time,” he added. On nights when patrol is strict, Huong and Chau stealthily move from their usual ‘trading’ site to another hiding place in the bush on the pavement. At 4 am, Chau used the same tricks as Huong’s to buy 8 cans of white gas (some 240 liters) from several tankers. Nam, another white gas dealer who also frequents the area, was talking to someone on the phone in the dark. Only 10 minutes later, a tanker pulled up, its driver quickly handed her 3 full cans. Riding the bike without a license plate, Nam gathers white gas on a number of streets without any hesitation. In early December, according to Tuoi Tre’s sources, another group of white gas dealers was also operating brazenly in the area, adopting similar tricks. White gas ‘trading’ stations With canfuls of white gas on his bike, Chau always takes the alleys and stores them at a house in Binh Thanh district, not far from his rented room. His main supplier is Dung. Dung erected his ‘post’ on Bach Dang street in Tan Binh district to collect the gas from tankers from 8 am to 2-3 pm. He provides automobile fixing services on a small truck as disguise. At ‘peak hours’, tankers drop gas cans at Dung’s post around every 5 minutes. “In recent months, this daytime ‘trading’ has been on the rise,” locals said. At around 10 am, Dung and his hired man were changing a car tire when a yellow tanker gave a secret signal by honking his horn twice before drawing up at Dung’s post. The driver briskly dropped 2 large cans on the pavement. Phuoc, Dung’s hired man, took the 2 cans while Dung quickly handed another 2 empty cans to the driver. Dung immediately hid the 2 full cans in the bush on the pavement. According to Tuoi Tre reporters’ observation, within only an hour, up to 10 tankers dropped full cans at Dung’s place. Dung’s station is always packed with full cans. There were times when he gathered more than 10 cans within 2 hours only. Retail Tuoi Tre’s investigation reveals that after collecting full cans from near the airport, Huong stores them at her house in Go Vap district, where her clients comes to fetch the ‘goods’. According to Bang, one of Huong’s patrons, Huong sells a 30 liter can at VND 600,000 (US$ 29). “She doesn’t retail to strangers,” Bang noted. Bang comes to fetch the ‘goods’ from Huong and other dealers on a daily basis. “No way can you find this gas at petrol stations. This gas is aircraft’s fuel,” Bang said without any hesitation in an interview with Tuoi Tre reporters. “A liter is priced at VND 24,000 (US$ 1.2). But if you buy the whole 30 liter can, a liter is only VND 22,000,” she said. “I wholesale the gas to petrol stations at the same price. I only earn a little from it,” Bang told Tuoi Tre. According to Bang, white gas is mixed with normal gas before being filled into customers’ bikes at several petrol stations. She wholesales up to a hundred of liters to the petrol stations each at VND 22,000 per liter. A92 petrol currently fetches VND 23,150 (US$ 1.1) a liter while A95 petrol is VND 23,650 a liter. Hoa, a white gas retail seller in district 4, said that owners of petrol stations often blend white gas with A92 or A95 and pocket VND 1,150-1,650 a liter. Most of those who buy white gas retail at VND 24,000 a liter use it for lighting the kerosene stove or burning votive money or goods for the deceased, Hoa explained. “Though white gas costs some VND 3,000 a liter more than DO oil, people favor it over conventional fuel as it emits no smoke or odor and produces intense, extended heat,” she added. According to Dr. Nguyen Vinh Khanh, from HCMC Polytechnic University, aviation gasoline (Jet A1), which is a high performance aircraft-type gas turbine lubricant, is formed from kerosene oil. Diesel engined automobiles, such as buses, and trucks can run on Jet A1. However, petrol-engined automobiles, like motorbikes or cars, can’t run on Jet A1. “Using Jet A1 on motorbikes will certainly lead to engine failure or serious engine damage,” Khanh stressed. “Whether the mixture of Jet A1 and A92 or A95 can be used on petrol-run engines or not depends on the levels of Jet A1concentration,” he noted. TUOI TRE  News