37 tons of olive oil stolen from Cooperative as prices soar

Some 37 tons of olive oil were stolen from the agricultural cooperative in Polygyros, in Halkidiki, northern Greece. The incident took place as the olive oil prices soar to unprecedented levels in the country.

The damage worth is estimated to exceed 370,000 euros.

According to the Polygyros Olive Oil Cooperative, the theft took place in the warehouses of the Cooperative where approximately 200 local producers are registered.

The members of the Cooperative could not believe their eyes when they saw the bottoms of the barrels empty on Tuesday morning. They wondered how a theft of such a volume of olive oil was possible.

They informed the police, reportedly urging them to examine footage from the CCTV cameras so that the perpetrators can be identified.

The Polygyro Security Department, which has taken over the case, is looking into all possibilities regarding the case and the method in which the alleged theft took place.

It has not yet been clarified how the tons of oil were removed.

Olive oil producers in the country are in general concerned about the increasing incidents of olive oil theft and are considering unprecedented precautionary measures such as night patrols in olive groves, hiring security guards and micro-chipping the olive trees.

The olives harvesting season is to be launched next month.

According to state broadcaster ERT, the price for olive oil produced last year is 8,500 to 9,000 euros per ton, while the prices are expected to soar further for this year’s olive oil.

The olives harvesting season is to be launched next month.