74 tonnes of olives stolen for half a million euros in damage: the impressive seizure by Spanish police

This evil action was surely triggered by the surge in olive oil prices caused by a declining harvest.

Spanish police seized 74 tonnes of stolen olives in the province of Seville. The damage is estimated at half a million euros by the authorities. Twelve people were arrested in the town of Pilas for their alleged involvement in fruit theft and trade, the Guardia Civil said in a statement on Friday.

Soaring olive oil prices

This evil action was surely triggered by the surge in olive oil prices caused by a declining harvest. Heat waves during the flowering of olive trees and the severe drought that hit Spain, the world’s largest producer of olives and olive oil, caused a fall in production, pushing up prices.

Spanish police are also seeing an increase in olive oil thefts. Some 6,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil were stolen at the end of September from an olive oil producer in the province of Malaga. “With the price of olive oil, stealing oil is now the same as stealing jewelry,” Spanish police spokeswoman Larrubia Nogales told Reuters.