Supermarkets across Spain are reporting a rise in olive oil theft amid soaring demand and prices for the Mediterranean “liquid gold”.
Some of the perpetrators are believed to be members of a criminal gang that fraudulently resells olive oil, sometimes adulterated or diluted, on the lucrative global black market.
Extra virgin olive oil, a staple in the Mediterranean diet, used to sell for around 5 euros ($5.40) a liter but can now cost up to 20 euros a liter.
Extreme weather, drought and the fight against the bacterium Xylella fastidosa that has devastated olive groves over the past decade have all affected olive oil production. Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterium transmitted by sap-sucking insects and causes leaf blight and yellow dwarf disease in crops.
Global olive production is expected to fall to 2.4 million tonnes this year, down 18% from a year earlier. Spain, Italy and Greece are the world's top three olive oil producers.
Ruben Navarro, head of the Tu supermarket chain, which operates about 30 stores in Spain's Andalucia region, said organised crime gangs were stealing oil to resell.
Olive oil is the second most stolen item in all Spanish supermarkets, after spirits. Iberico ham is the third most stolen item, the survey found.
Supermarkets are now chaining large, 5-litre bottles of olive oil together and locking them to shelves to prevent theft.
In some stores, 1-liter bottles of oil are also tagged with security tags, and after customers make a purchase, supermarket staff will remove the lock for them. However, the sales director of the Eroski supermarket chain - Mr. Jose Izquierdo said that thieves are using magnetic devices to break the security tags.
According to security company STC, which conducted a survey of stores, olive oil is currently the most stolen item in supermarkets in Aragon, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia, Madrid, the Balearic Islands and Extremadura.
It is unusual for a staple food item to be so high on the theft list, said STC marketing director Alejandro Alegre.
Minh Hoa (according to Tin Tuc newspaper, Vietnamnet)
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