Avocado thieves causing trouble in San Diego
On Mike Hillebrecht’s family farm, the crops are so rich and full, the tree branches nearly touch the road. Every corner of his property is lined with oranges and avocados. This makes his farm a popular target for thieves.
It was a few years back when Mike awoke to find thieves ransacking his trees. $3,000 worth of avocados were pulled from their branches under the cover of darkness. Two of the men were caught and charged with felonies.
“Dad always joked; I’d like to hire those guys because they were faster pickers in the dark than most crews during the day.” Mike said lightheartedly.
They are trying to combat the problem with increased security fencing and camera surveillance which is enabling more thieves to be caught. The thieves are a big problem for the farms as California is an expensive place to grow as Mike explains.
He said the high price of water is one reason many farmers have quit. It’s simply too tough to make a profit as they also have to worry about theft. And, cheap imports from Mexico make it tough to compete.
source: cw6sandiego.com
“San Diego County is the largest producer of avocados in the state, and because the fruit is valuable, it can become the target of theft,” Eric Larson said. Larson is the Executive Director at the San Diego County Farm Bureau. On an average year, 20,000 avocados are stolen from San Diego growers. The most he’s seen in a year – 80,000.
