HortNews
	Avocado Growers Gutted By Thefts

TAURANGA 16/8/2002 - Avocado growers are threatening to arm themselves in a bid to stop "low-life" rustlers stripping fruit from their trees.

The rise in thefts and the number of orchards being hit in the Western Bay of Plenty has sparked outrage among growers who have formed vigilante groups to operate 24-hour surveillance.

They are threatening to arm themselves and warn someone could get hurt.

Athenree avocado orchardist Bruce Rapley said he was gutted after discovering up to six tonnes of fruit were stripped from 200 trees in the past few days.

It wasn't until he was having his crop tested for picking on Tuesday that Mr Rapley discovered the loss, which he estimated to be between $12,000 and $15,000 - or up to $20,000 gross in export crop. Because the fruit was still on the trees it was uninsured.

"These are low-life people just targeting orchards. It's absolutely devastating and a breach of our privacy. We were not a happy family on Wednesday, it's hard to find the right words to describe something like this," Mr Rapley said.

The trees, which were close to his house, had been roughly stripped, the fruit crudely ripped and torn from the branches causing damage that would impact on next season's crop.

Mr Rapley said there were vehicle marks between the tree rows and it appeared the fruit had been taken in one hit.

The theft is part of what could be an organised ring of fruit rustlers in the Athenree and Waihi Beach area. Hass avocados have been targeted on five Athenree orchards, but thefts from growers in north Katikati, Papamoa and Te Puke over recent weeks have included nursery seed stock of Zutano and Reid varieties.

Athenree grower Kevin Evans has been hit twice by thieves who gained access through a neighbour's property, climbed his locked gate and stole about 1500 fruit.

He and two other growers had been staking out their orchards at night in an attempt to spook the thieves. But as they were watching over one orchard last week, thieves were busy at work down the road on another of their orchards.

Mr Rapley and Mr Evans warned all avocado orchardists to monitor their fruit and be wary of anyone suspicious appearing on orchards or asking for avocado work.

"Growers have very valuable investments and we cannot let these guys keep at it (stealing)," Mr Evans said.

They believed the fruit might have been picked to order by someone wanting to sell it on the black market, or it could be destined for the Auckland "flea-type" markets where avocados were fetching $2 each.

But buyers would end up being ripped off, as the fruit stolen in the past weeks was immature and unlikely to ripen.