Apparently the Hottest Thing to Steal Right Now... Is Used Frying Oil? 🍟🤢

You know the economy is getting weird when criminals aren't stealing cash...

They're stealing old deep fryer grease.

Police in New York are warning restaurants about a surprising crime trend: thieves siphoning off used cooking oil from storage tanks behind restaurants.

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Yes.

The stuff that smells like yesterday's onion rings.

Turns out it's actually valuable because it can be recycled into renewable fuels. And where there's money to be made.

Someone's showing up with a garden hose and questionable life choices.

In one case, police caught a guy with a hose running from a restaurant's used oil container straight into the back of his van.

Imagine explaining that to your family. "How was work today?" "Pretty good. Stole 200 litres of old chicken wing juice."

At least three people have already been arrested this month, leading some people to wonder if used cooking oil is becoming the new catalytic converter.

Honestly, I don't know what's stranger. The fact that people are stealing fryer grease.

Or the fact that there's apparently a thriving underground market for it. At this point, nothing surprises me anymore.

Next week it'll be:

"Police are warning residents to lock up their compost bins."