Joseph Valenzuela, Rahim Leblanc and Carlos Chavez have been charged with suspicion of grand theft of fruit. (AP / Ventura County Sheriff's Office)
Given that the price of avocados has skyrocketed in recent months, it no wonder a few criminals in California started dealing in black-market avocados.
Three workers at the Mission Produce ripening facility in Oxnard, Calif. have been arrested and charged with grand theft of up to $300,000 worth of avocados, says the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
The men — 28-year-old Joseph Valenzuela, 30-year-old Rahim Leblanc and 28-year-old Carlos Chavez — had reportedly been conducting unauthorized cash sales from the facility itself, perhaps for several months.
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According to the Los Angeles Times, Mission Produce recently began delivering avocados to its customers — rather than having customers pick them up — but some clients continued to show up at the facility for their shipments. Seeing an opportunity to make a few quick bucks, the thieves simply continued to conduct the transactions and pocketed the cash, says Mission Produce president Steve Barnard.
Barnard believes they were offering the avocados at a discounted rate of $20 or $30 per box, when they normally go for around $50. All total, the company estimates its losses at about $300,000.
Barnard says surveillance footage confirmed his suspicions. The men were arrested by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday.
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“We take these kinds of thefts seriously,” Sgt. John Franchi told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a big product here and in California.”
Valenzuela, Leblanc and Chavez are being held in jail on bail of $250,000 each.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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