08-13-2007, 02:52 AM
Vegetable poachers' ripe pickings in night raids
By Peter Michael
FRUIT and vegetable rustlers are swiping truckloads of fresh produce in midnight raids on north Queensland farms as grocery prices skyrocket under the winter chill.
Thieves are stealing straight from the paddock, such as corn, melons and pumpkin, and loading up wagons, trucks and cars to cash in on soaring demand.
Bowen District Growers Association president Carl Walker and police yesterday said they had joined forces to stop the "vege poachers".
Detective Sergeant Mark Inmon said the problem was widespread across the region including Bowen, Burdekin and as far north as Ingham.
He said there had been cases where entire paddocks and orchards had been stripped in orchestrated night-time raids.
"They are loading up cars, wagons and trucks with corn, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes or mangoes, and in some cases, selling it off to roadside stalls or markets down south."
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,222...1,00.html#
By Peter Michael
FRUIT and vegetable rustlers are swiping truckloads of fresh produce in midnight raids on north Queensland farms as grocery prices skyrocket under the winter chill.
Thieves are stealing straight from the paddock, such as corn, melons and pumpkin, and loading up wagons, trucks and cars to cash in on soaring demand.
Bowen District Growers Association president Carl Walker and police yesterday said they had joined forces to stop the "vege poachers".
Detective Sergeant Mark Inmon said the problem was widespread across the region including Bowen, Burdekin and as far north as Ingham.
He said there had been cases where entire paddocks and orchards had been stripped in orchestrated night-time raids.
"They are loading up cars, wagons and trucks with corn, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes or mangoes, and in some cases, selling it off to roadside stalls or markets down south."
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,222...1,00.html#
