Jakarta – Motorists in and around the capital are probably familiar with the sight of teenage boys and young men chasing after passing fuel trucks, opening the valves on the back of the vehicles, collecting drops of fuel in small buckets and scattering.

These people are usually found near toll gates, at traffic lights and along streets known for their traffic congestion. They arm themselves with buckets or plastic bags. They usually work in groups, selling the fuel to brokers who wait nearby with large buckets and jerry cans.

According to drivers of the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, the fuel siphoners are not criminals because they only take the dregs of fuel left inside the tanks of the trucks. The siphoners' only enemy is the police, though motorists have complained about the recklessness of these liquid scavengers.

One of the most popular sites for fuel siphoners in the capital is the city's sole Pertamina fuel distribution centre in Plumpang, where scores of them are seen seeking to collect those few drops of fuel left inside the empty tanks of the trucks. The whole siphoning process only take a few seconds. However, if the siphoners are lucky, it can take at least two minutes to collect the remaining fuel in the tanks.

They place their filled buckets and bags into zinc buckets they have placed strategically near the place of their "business," where they can earn between 15,000 rupiah (S$2.80) and 30,000 rupiah per day.

"I'm able to collect 20 to 30 litres a day for which I can earn 15,000 rupiah to 30,000 rupiah. After cutting the cost of my meal, I can save 10,000 rupiah to 15,000 rupiah a day," said Wayanto, 26, a father of two.