The president of the Association of Producers of Grapes, Fruits and Vegetables of Sonora, Marco Antonio Molina Rodriguez, stated that, every day, a thousand to two thousand boxes of table grapes were stolen from agricultural fields across the State, and that the annual losses amounted to two million dollars.
Molina Rodriguez stressed that they had decided to raise their voices and ask authorities to severely punish the thieves, which have robbed from more than 60 grape producers in the region in recent years.
He said that many of the robbers made part of organized criminal gangs, and that they had affected grape growers and farmers in general, including nut and shrimp producers.
"There is proliferation of criminals and lack of punishment of them. We see with great concern that the alleged thieves are arrested after their crimes, and then set free one or two hours later; ready to commit more crimes, because there aren't punished."
The agricultural producer said that many of the vendors who offer their products at the city's pedestrian crossings, especially table grapes, are people who sell the fruit that was illegally purchased, even when they offer it in the producer's company bags.
Molina Rodriguez said that the fruit from Sonora had a very high value in the international market and that the grapes in particular could be worth up to 25 dollars a box. Hence, if producers are robbed an average of 2 thousand boxes per day, their losses would amount to 50 thousand dollars a day.
Source: elimparcial.com