Two men arrested in relation to avocado orchard burglaries
Police arrest two men in relation to avocado orchard burglaries
Friday, 29 August 2014 - 4:39pm
Northland
Police have found about 400 stolen avocados at a Whangarei address following a search warrant this morning.
There have been a number of burglaries of
avocado orchards around Whangarei recently.
Information
from the public and further inquiries led to Police
executing the search warrant at a Smeaton Drive address. The
avocados were found in the garage.
A car believed to have been used to sell the avocados from at markets in Auckland was also seized at another Smeaton Drive address.
Police
arrested two men, aged 18 and 41 years, and they will be
facing burglary charges.
Police believe the men have been
stealing avocados from several orchards and are carrying out
further investigations to ascertain how many orchards have
been targeted.
Police would like to thank a member of the public who noticed the men selling avocados from the boot of a car at the Avondale Sunday Market. The person had read publicity about the avocado orchard burglaries and thought the men selling the avocados seemed suspicious, so contacted the police.
Whangarei/Kaipara Area Prevention Manager
Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said this person's
information was crucial to police locating the people
involved in the avocado burglaries.
"We rely on the
public's help to prevent and help solve crime and this is a
perfect example of
that."