and a man from new york city were caught handed trying to syphon used cooking oil. police are trying to determine if these suspects might be involved in a rash of similar theft. they can t just do this once. they have the equipment and they are going around to many different containment units and stealing more oil. reporter: the used oil is something of a liquid gold these day, fetching anywhere from 2 to $4 a gallon on the open market. steve blank enship is the manager of a fuel company. they have been hit by thieves repeatedly. we don t know for sure but we believe we are losing anywhere from 10 to 20,000 gallons a month in theft. that s happening all over the region. reporter: indeed, experts say it s happening all over the nation. the growing focus on renewable fuel, more restaurantings are selling their used oil to collection companies storing in pickup and containers behind their businesses. that s when and where the thieves step in to cash in: they could sell i