Thieves Escape With Around 6,000 Litres Of Olive Oil From A Factory In Teba, Malaga

THIEVES escaped with thousands of litres of olive oil from a factory in the Teba municipality of Malaga province on Wednesday, August 16.

Operating under the cover of darkness, the criminals took advantage of the factory’s remote location and managed to disable the facility’s security cameras and alarms before gaining entry during the early hours.

As reported this Tuesday 22 by malagahoy.es, some of the stolen oil was already packaged while the rest of it was bottled up by the crooks. The theft went unnoticed until the workers started arriving at around 7 am the same day.

In addition to making off with bottles of oil that had already been bottled previously by the workers, the alleged thieves also reportedly filled more containers themselves and even left the taps running when they made their getaway.

Around 6,000 litres of oil were lost

According to sources from the affected company, between the litres of oil stolen and wasted, the total amount of oil the company lost came to approximately 6,000 litres.

‘Part of the product was scattered around the factory and logically that oil can no longer be used for consumption’, lamented one of the company’s partners.

They also revealed that the alleged perpetrators stole various items of furniture that were inside the mill. These included utensils that had been bought just a day before the incident to do a wine tasting for a group of about 50 Lithuanian citizens. ‘They have also done a lot of damage to the packaging machinery. It was all upside down’, explained the partner.

The robbery was ‘something totally exceptional’

Teba Council assured that the presence of the security forces has been intensified in the area due to the fact that this factory is located: ‘on rustic land, totally isolated’.

They emphasised however that this incident was ‘something totally exceptional. In the little more than five years that the mill has been open, the only thing that has happened is a fire that did not affect the factory’, they recalled.

Meanwhile, the ROCA group of the Antequera Guardia Civil has launched a full investigation into the event in order to determine the circumstances surrounding the theft.

A part of the stolen product was located in Sevilla province just 24 hours after the robbery. However, it was not revealed if any arrests were made in connection with the discovery.

The price of olive oil is rising in Spanish supermarkets

Olive oil is currently an expensive product to purchase in Spain as can be seen by comparing the prices on supermarket shelves.

According to a statement from the ASAJA Alicante on Friday, August 3, the production of olive groves is down. This is being blamed by the producers on the inclement weather which is negatively affecting the crops.

‘This, together with the fact that we came from a disastrous campaign, means that there is no stock, and therefore the prices of olive oil are skyrocketing on the supermarket shelves’, they pointed out.

‘The product is exactly 86.4 per cent more expensive than in this same period of 2022. In fact, ASAJA Alicante considers that the price will continue to rise in the coming months’, said the organisation.