For months now, 25-pound bottles of gas were disappearing from small shops in the Azuero Peninsula’s provinces of Herrera and Los Santos, but no more.
The National Police apprehended three gas-tank robbers – ages 41, 32 and 23 – who had just stolen nine tanks from the Doña Lila store in Borrola de Pese. Alex Ruiz of the National Police said that when the robbers realized police presence, they began throwing the gas tanks from their pick-up truck.
In April, La Prensa reported that 50 gas tanks had been stolen over a period of a few months in Los Santos and that the robbers were reselling them for $50 each, or a savings of $10 for contraband gas tank buyers.