The Civil Guard has arrested 16 people accused of having stolen 17 tons of olives in towns in the Comarca de las Vegas, in the south of Madrid, and of having turned them into oil in two mills in Toledo and Guadalajara. In total, six robberies perpetrated in Valdaracete, Fuentidueña del Tajo, Chinchón, Villaconejos, Villarejo de Salvanés, Colmenar de Oreja and Brea del Tajo have been clarified. The detainees are accused of theft, fraud and reception of stolen objects. The investigation began with a complaint from a farmer from Brea de Tajo, from whom 8,400 kilos of olives had been stolen, and got back on track when a vehicle with five people carrying 140 kilos of olives of dubious origin was stopped. The theft of olives, with the price of olive oil skyrocketing, has become a headache for the Civil Guard. Only this month there is evidence of the looting of almost 50 tons of olives in fields in Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura.
Product thefts in the fields are nothing new, but they have become a headache as the price of food skyrockets, especially oil, whose price at source is almost 60% more expensive today than in the previous season. . Extra virgin olive oil —the highest quality— exceeds six euros per kilo at origin, and the drop in production this season predicts that the price will continue to rise. The so-called Spanish liquid gold is more gold than ever. Just a few days ago, four residents of Andújar (Jaén) were arrested for the theft of 4,000 kilos of olives; shortly before there were 28 investigated in Osuna (Seville) for the theft of 28 tons; Two others were located in Espejo (Córdoba) for the same reason, another six were arrested in Montilla…
In January, the Civil Guard at the Estremera barracks received a complaint from a farmer from Brea who claimed that 8.4 tons of olives had been stolen from various farms he owned. “The analysis of this complaint made it possible to relate this fact to others of similar characteristics in which the owners of different farms located in the Las Vegas region were suffering robberies and theft of large quantities of olives,” the armed institute said in a statement. press release made public this morning.
Surveillance in sensitive areas for theft, almost all of them on the banks of the Tagus or its tributary Jarama (and the subtributary Tajuña), led to a stop by a car full of people and olives: five people and 140 kilos of olives. This is how the Seprona agents learned that in two mills in the provinces of Toledo and Guadalajara, bordering the region where the robberies were perpetrated, the Civil Guard entered to search the two mills, accompanied by personnel from the Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Agriculture of Castilla-La Mancha. Those responsible for the exploitation have been arrested and 6,000 liters of oil have been seized. They have also been denounced for issues related to safety at work, health and waste management.
The 16 detainees are between 20 and 57 years old. Five other people have been investigated during the so-called Operation Kalabrea.
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