Thieves are stealing thousands of dollars-worth of avocados in midnight raids and selling the goods on the black market.
With demand for avocados showing no sign of slowing, savvy thieves on the upper North Island in New Zealand have taken to stealing the fruit and selling it illegally.
Sergeant Trevor Brown from Western Bay of Plenty said avocado-based crimes took off in 2016 and saw a huge surge in July this year.
With demand for avocados showing no sign of slowing, savvy thieves on the upper North Island in New Zealand have taken to stealing the fruit and selling it illegally
‘We are seeing thefts on a commercial scale. We are seeing thousands of dollars of fruit stolen in a single hit and people’s livelihoods are getting ruined… it is not like just stealing a couple of mandarins off your neighbour’s tree, we take it very seriously,’ he told The Guardian.
The raids have happened in the middle of the night, with crops stripped bare and the avocados collected in blankets and sleeping bags.
Police said stolen fruit was sold at pop-up roadside markets, but after police began patrolling fruit stalls, criminals were forced to become more tech-savvy.
Police investigating the fruit crimes said they noticed the stolen produce cropping up on websites including Facebook.
Police said stolen fruit was sold at pop-up roadside markets, but after police began patrolling fruit stalls, criminals were forced to become more tech-savvy
The raids have happened in the middle of the night, with crops stripped bare and the avocados collected in blankets and sleeping bags
In the past year, New Zealand police said the avocado black market was growing at an overwhelming speed.
‘From a positive perspective, the criminals might be taking to social media because the ability to drive up to a road-side stall and sell a crate of avocados on the sly for $50 has gotten harder this season,’ CEO of New Zealand Avocado Jen Scoular said.
The black-market has been driven by the massive increase in demand for avocados across both New Zealand and Australia.
The industry reported sales of $198 million this year, which was an increase of $64 million since the year before.
There were 7.7 million trays of the fruit produced between 2016 and 2017 which was an 84 percent increase on the last season, The Guardian reported.
With demand for avocados showing no sign of slowing, savvy thieves at Western Bay of Plenty (pictured) in New Zealand have taken to stealing the fruit and selling it illegally