Police Thwart Attempted Half-Tonne Olive Heist

Police in Sevilla have thwarted the attempted theft of nearly half a tonne of olives as the region’s harvest season begins. The lucrative fruit has become a tempting target for opportunistic thieves and professional gangs alike. 

The ‘verdeo’- or green olive picking season- takes place in early autumn and marks the start of the harvest season. However, the season got off to a rocky start as thieves attempted to steal 465 kg (73 st 2 lbs) of olives near the brown of Albaida del Aljarafe.

Police found seven people “collecting olives in flagrante” and arrested a woman who claimed to have been hired to oversee the team of six pickers. Police also retrieved fake cargo documents that would have allowed the gang to sell the stolen olives using false claims about their origin and traceability.

“Thanks to the swift intervention, the theft of 465 kg of manzanilla olives that had already been collected and loaded onto vehicles was prevented,” the police said. The olives were returned to their owner after the seizure. 

Olive Theft: An Early-Autumn Scourge

According to Guardia Civil figures, 48 people were arrested for stealing olives during the 2023-24 harvest. A further 371 were investigated. A whopping 213,489 kilos of olives were also seized over the course of the season.

“In Seville province alone, 129 people were investigated or arrested for offences including the theft of olives, possessing false paperwork, fraud, and other crimes related to the harvesting of olives,” the statement said.

This is in addition to the 150,000kg of stolen olives and almost 100 five-litre bottles of olive oil that were seized in the same province. Both the olives and the olive oil bore fake labels claiming the contents were far higher quality than they actually were.

The price of olives and olive oil- referred to as ‘liquid gold’ has skyrocketed, making them a tempting target for thieves, counterfeiters, and criminal gangs.

Olive Theft: Not Limited to Spain

Police in Italy and Spain arrested 11 people and seized more than 5,000 litres of unadulterated olive oil after breaking up an international gang who aimed to pass off much cheaper and poorer quality oil as a premium product.

Olive prices have gone through the roof in recent years as droughts and other adverse weather conditions have impacted harvests. Shoppers in Spain have complained of the near tripling in price of olive oil, with prices rising from around  €5 for a high-quality bottle of olive oil four years ago to almost €14 now.

Spain: The World’s Biggest Olive Oil Producer

Spain produces around half of the world’s olive oil, producing more than 851,000 tonnes between October 2023 and May 2024. While still a huge amount, it falls far short of the 1.3 million tonnes the country could produce with better weather conditions. Heatwaves of more than 40ºC that have led to droughts has seriously impacted the harvest. 

World production has also been affected, with extreme weather affecting other olive-producing countries like Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Morocco.