A long-term Texas Department of Public Safety investigation into an alleged petroleum theft operation led to 17 search warrants, six arrests, 60 seized vehicles, and more than $8 million in bank accounts, according to DPS.
The Aug. 12 operation focused on a Texas oil and gas company doing business as Vallee. Search warrants were executed in Reeves, Rockwall, Kaufman, and Hunt counties in Texas and Garvin County, Oklahoma.
Authorities seized 60 motor vehicles and off-road vehicles valued at approximately $2.85 million, $786,215 in cash, 34 luxury watches and pieces of jewelry valued at approximately $443,000, and about 2,600 barrels of petroleum products with an estimated market value of $220,402.
Then there were the bank accounts. DPS said eight accounts contained an estimated total of more than $8 million.
Quite A Haul
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DPS said Vallee is suspected of participating in the organized theft and trafficking of petroleum products. Six people, including members of the company’s corporate leadership, were arrested on state charges.
The cases are being prosecuted by the 143rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
DPS’s Organized Oilfield Theft Prevention Unit led the operation with the district attorney’s office, the Reeves and Loving county sheriff’s offices, the FBI’s Midland Resident Agency, DPS investigators in North Texas, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
The Investigation
Arrest warrants obtained by the Houston Chronicle say undercover personnel were paid by Vallee during the investigation.
The Chronicle reported that some of those checks carried an unusually specific memo: “rebate, for skim oil that was not obtained illegally.”
A New Unit
Texas lawmakers created the Organized Oilfield Theft Prevention Unit within DPS in 2025 as part of a broader effort to combat petroleum theft. The law took effect May 29, 2025.
The unit is authorized to investigate petroleum-product theft and certain thefts involving oil and gas equipment, and to coordinate with other law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, the Railroad Commission of Texas, and victims.
District Attorney Sarah Stogner said her office intends to continue pursuing oil theft in the Permian Basin.
“We will continue to vigorously prosecute those who steal oil; it’s the lifeblood of the Permian Basin,” Stogner said.
DPS said the Vallee investigation remains active.
Additional arrests and seizures are anticipated.