A Greek olive oil cooperative has been hit by thieves who swiped more than $388,000 worth of product – and locals believe it was an inside job.
About 37 tons, or around 9,000 gallons, of olive oil were stolen from the Polygyros Olive Oil Cooperative — of which about 200 local producers are a part — last week.
Thieves also broke into an oil refinery in Messinia, stealing 100kg, or 28 gallons, of oil.
The bandits gained access to the warehouse through a battered iron gate in Polygyros and a high-tech security portal in Messinia, according to the Guardian.
“The oil is gone,” said Yannis Keliafanos, a farmer. “There are few left.”
The total oil stolen was worth $388,000, according to the Greek Reporter, adding that those in the cooperative believed it was an inside job.
“Suddenly on Monday, the oil producers who went to get the oil they had left in custody in the cooperative tank, found that there was not a drop of oil in the tank,” said Thanasis Yovanudas, a lawyer for the local producer, told the outlet.
About 37 tons, or around 9,000 gallons, of olive oil were stolen from the Polygyros Olive Oil Cooperative — of which about 200 local producers are a part — last week. Gatsi
“The next day the cooperative reported that there had been a theft over the weekend, a position that the olive producers did not agree with. Little by little the oil is sold through cooperatives or otherwise,” he continued. “We think it was done through a cooperative, we can’t say who did it.”
The theft comes after a bad harvest year, sending olive oil prices skyrocketing.
“When the price of olive oil last year has increased by 200% because of low yields, there is a lot of money to be made,” Manolis Yiannoulis, head of the Greek olive oil association, EDOE, told the Guardian.
The theft comes after a bad harvest year, sending olive oil prices skyrocketing. The country is also facing a shortage of olive oil. Fatih Kucuktezcan
Yiannoulis believes the shortage of olive oil supply played a key role in the theft.
“They are no longer looking for jewelry, they are looking for olive oil,” said local journalist Themis Kanellopoulos, according to The Guardian. “In the upper part of Messinia, there were cases of houses being broken into with thieves only interested in the reserve, and for the first time we saw olive oil stolen from the cemetery.”
Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil behind Spain and Italy. This year’s crop is expected to be half of normal.
In March, sixteen bandits were arrested for making off with 19 tons of olives in Spain, according to authorities.
The group robbed six farms in the Las Vegas region outside the capital Madrid, Agence France-Presse reported. Sixteen people were arrested, and another five were investigated by the national police.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
