A man in his 50s who stole strawberries from a farm in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, was caught.
According to the Gimhae Western Police Station on the 22nd, Mr. A is suspected of stealing about 390 kg of strawberries from strawberry cultivation greenhouses in Sisan-ri and Gasan-ri, Hallim-myeon, Gimhae City, from December 16 last year to January 12 this year.
The stolen strawberries were estimated to be worth about 7.8 million KRW.
Mr. A was a long-time resident of the village and unemployed, with no farming experience.
He took advantage of the fact that the locks on the strawberry greenhouses were often not working properly and repeatedly took strawberries ready for shipment during the night when there were few people around, using his personal vehicle.
The stolen strawberries were sold for 50,000 KRW per basket to pubs in Gimhae and Miryang.
The police began an investigation after obtaining statements from the affected farms and caught Mr. A near a pub in Gimhae City through analysis of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage around the scene.
Earlier, the affected farms claimed that about 2 tons were stolen based on estimated daily harvests, but during the police investigation, it was reported that about 400 kg had disappeared.
On the 21st, a detention warrant was issued for Mr. A, and the police are investigating whether he has additional offenses and if there are any accomplices.
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