The owners of an Arnedo-based warehouse used for the buying and selling of almonds are among those arrested. A first analysis of the documentation recovered during the search of these facilities has shown that its owners illegally purchased more than 194,000 kilos of almonds worth € 155,200 between September and November.
The business had attracted criminals from Aragon, La Rioja and Navarre, as they were able to sell the almonds that they stole without having to prove their origin.
In fact, according to the Guardia Civil, no less than 212 suspects (with criminal records or no known agrarian link) sold almonds to this warehouse without ever being asked to prove their origin. The sellers (of Spanish, Romanian and Moroccan nationality) lived in practically all the nearby provinces and other more distant ones, including Alava, Burgos, Guipuzcoa, La Rioja, Santander, Soria, Tarragona, Teruel, Valencia, Vizcaya and Zaragoza.
3,000 kilos of the product were seized during the search and have already been returned to their owners.
Source: larioja.com
