State Arrests Man In Escambia County For ‘Sophisticated Fuel Theft Operation’

March 15, 2026

A 26-year-old man was arrested in Escambia County in what state authorities described as a sophisticated fuel theft operation spanning multiple counties.

Alain De Jesus Aguila-Martinez, 26, was charged with larceny — tampering with or removing a retail fuel dispenser by the Florida Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (OALE). He also had active warrants for multiple felony charges, including organized fraud, retail fuel theft tampering, and petit theft.

Officers at the Florida Agricultural Inspection Station on I-10 identified a blue semi-truck pulling a refrigerated trailer that matched the description of a vehicle linked to a sophisticated fuel theft operation spanning Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties.

During the inspection, an OALE K-9 unit conducted a free-air sniff around Aguila-Martinez’s 2002 Freightliner semi-truck and alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered a large magnet concealed under the driver’s steering wheel, authorities said. The magnet was identified as “a device commonly used to manipulate fuel pump solenoids, enabling the unauthorized theft of diesel fuel”.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT FEATURE 

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