Countywide : 4 Who Reported Avocado Thefts Get Reward Money
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Four Ventura County residents collected rewards totaling $1,700 for tipping police to avocado thieves in two Somis incidents, an industry spokesman said Friday.
The rewards were given by the California Avocado Commission as part of its $775,000 statewide anti-theft program. This year, $30,000 of the program’s funds are designated for rewards.
In both cases, ranch workers had investigated cars parked near avocado groves when they discovered unauthorized men picking the pricey fruit.
The workers alerted Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, who arrested the suspects. The arrests resulted in the recovery of 4,150 pounds of avocados.
A spokesman for the commission estimated that $1 million to $2 million in avocados are stolen from Ventura growers each year.
Five other rewards have been collected in Ventura County since the avocado commission started its program in February--two in Camarillo and three in Fillmore.
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