EDK OIL fuel theft: 35 people referred to the Dakar Criminal Court, trial postponed to July 17, 2026

Following a judicial investigation opened after a complaint filed by EDK Oil SA and Transport Routier Express (TRE), the investigating judge of the first chamber of the Dakar court referred 35 individuals implicated in a vast hydrocarbon embezzlement network at the SENSTOCK depot to the Dakar Criminal Chamber. The case, initially heard on June 16, 2026, was automatically adjourned to a special hearing scheduled for July 17, 2026.

According to the committal order issued by the Senior Investigating Judge of the Dakar Court, the investigation dismantled an organized fuel siphoning scheme involving tanker truck drivers, apprentices, security guards, inspectors responsible for sealing evidence, and individuals nicknamed "Lakhalmanes." All are charged with criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen goods, and theft committed as a group, using a vehicle, and in the course of their duties.

Regarding the facts

The judicial investigation revealed that, on September 4, 2024, the companies Transport Routier Express (TRE) and EDK OIL SA filed a complaint with the public prosecutor against persons unknown for theft committed by an organized group and receiving stolen goods. According to the complaint, large-scale thefts of hydrocarbons were being carried out on the premises of the Société Sénégalaise de Stockage (SENSTOCK SA).

During questioning, Demba Ka, CEO of EDK OIL, explained that after noticing a discrepancy between fuel consumption and the quantities actually received at the storage facility, he launched an investigation. This investigation revealed that drivers, security guards, agents responsible for checking seals, SENSTOCK storage workers, and individuals known as "Lakhalmanes" had organized themselves into a gang to steal hydrocarbons from his company. To support his statements, he provided the police with videos recorded in the SENSTOCK parking lot, illustrating the modus operandi of the individuals involved.

After reviewing the images from the surveillance cameras, investigators arrested thirty-seven people consisting of drivers and apprentices from the companies TRE and STTT, responsible for transporting hydrocarbons, an employee of SENSTOCK, agents from the companies AXESS and VERITAS, respectively responsible for security and control, as well as other individuals commonly known as "Lakhalmanes".

During their investigations, the police discovered, inside a warehouse belonging to the company ECOTRA, adjacent to the SENSTOCK depot, carefully guarded tanks, drums and jerrycans, in which the alleged perpetrators and their accomplices stored the fuel before reselling it.

When questioned, several of those implicated, including Saliou Ngom, Maissa Ndiaye, Daouda Sow, Babacar Diop, Modou Djiby Diop, Bakhao Diol, Babacar Thiam, Amadou Dramé, Oumar Sow, Amadou Niang, Ibrahima Mbengue, Aliou Badara Sène, Babacar Ndao, Adama Sy alias Ada, Ndiaga Diop, Alioune Badara Sarr, Pape Moussa Ndiaye and Tonton Camara, admitted their participation in the alleged acts.

Alioune Badara Sarr and Ndiaga Diop identified Modou Seck, alias Modou Ndiaye, and his gang as the main buyers of the stolen fuel. Alioune Badara Sarr specified that Modou Seck, El Hadji Moussa Ndiaye, Ada, and Ndiaga Diop, known as "Makhou," went to ECOTRA to collect the stolen fuel and transport it.

Pape Moussa Ndiaye, an employee of SENSTOCK, admitted to once accepting fuel offered by two individuals. He stated that Moussa Ndiaye and Mamadou Seck, alias Modou Ndiaye, were well-known in this illicit trade and that others, including Adama Sy, known as Ada, Mame Mor Sylla, and Matar Diop, alias Makhou, were also involved.

Ameth Thiam, an apprentice driver of a tanker truck driven by Modou Thiam, stated that he had witnessed, on several occasions, acts of siphoning and illegal sale of fuel committed on the SENSTOCK site.

Serigne Fallou Mbengue, also an apprentice driver, indicated that he had received jerrycans of fuel siphoned by Saliou Ngom before handing them over to Malamine Thiam.

For their part, Malamine Thiam, Bassirou Fall, and Dame Ndiaye denied any involvement. However, according to investigators, they were formally identified on the surveillance videos.

Oussèye Ka, manager of the company TRE, testified as a civil party in the case. He explained that after suspecting fuel thefts intended for EDK, he informed Demba Ka, who then contacted the Gendarmerie. A discreet surveillance operation was subsequently set up at the SENSTOCK depot, leading to the arrest of those involved. He specified that thirteen of the alleged thieves were drivers for his company, responsible for transporting fuel on behalf of EDK.

According to him, the modus operandi consisted of, after loading the trucks, immobilizing them in the SENSTOCK parking lot with the complicity of security guards and a company manager, Pape Ndiaye. The fuel was then siphoned and transferred over the adjoining wall to a former ECOTRA company depot, converted into an illegal station where the fuel was stored in drums before being resold after being transferred into twenty-liter jerrycans.

Oussèye Ka argued that the accused had set up a veritable criminal enterprise, in which each member played a specific role and received their share of the proceeds from the sales.

Regarding the dismissal of the case

The investigating judge noted that the judicial inquiry had not made it possible to identify the person referred to as "X". He therefore declared that there was no basis for further prosecution of an unnamed person on charges of complicity in theft committed by an organized group using a means of transport in the course of duty and of receiving stolen goods.

Furthermore, the accused Omar Sané, Birama Ngor Diouf and Assane Mbaye, prosecuted for association of criminals and robbery in a group committed with the use of a vehicle and in connection with their service, have always denied the facts.

The magistrate determined that there was no objective evidence to prove their involvement in the alleged crimes. They were not identified in the CCTV footage, and no witness statements formally implicated them.