Gardaí foiled a brazen heist of a lorry that was loaded up with fertiliser valued at €30,000 in Co. Limerick.
The incident, which took place on March 22, was discussed during a recent Joint Policing Committee meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District.
Chair of the council, Cllr. Liam Galvin, asked gardaí present if there had been an increase in the theft of fertiliser due to its price more-than tripling in the last 12 months.
Detective sergeant (Det Sgt.) Mike Reidy replied that, in the previous week, €30,000 worth of fertiliser was stolen during the course of a delivery.
It was recovered by gardaí within a couple of hours he said, but declined to give additional details at that time as the investigation was ongoing.
However, he did say that the truck left Newcastle West and the fertiliser was recovered by gardai in the Bruff area.
It has since emerged that a man was arrested and has appeared in court in connection with the heist.
Warning to farmers
The senior garda has warned farmers that, given the rise in prices “we are going to see an increase in thefts of fertiliser”.
The fertiliser involved in this incident was valued at over €1,000/t, Det Sgt. Reidy said.
From a farming community himself, he said that it would be normal for fertiliser deliveries to be dropped inside the gate of an outside farm.
But he is urging farmers to be more vigilant.
“We are encouraging farmers receiving fertiliser to bring it close to home, away from prying eyes rather than leaving it unattended out in the open,” he said.
“It requires a lot more physical equipment than normal thefts, so we are asking members of the farming community and the public to contact us if they see anything suspicious,” said Det Sgt Reidy.
Cllr. Galvin, who had raised the issue of the increased price of fertiliser, summed up the current situation by quoting Deputy Michael Healy-Rae when he said “criminals are better off robbing farmers than banks due to the cost of fertiliser, machinery and feed”.
In relation to preventing thefts and securing the return of other items on farms, Sgt. Noel Barry highlighted the council’s property-marking machine, which works by stamping an Eircode onto an item using a series of dots.
Cllr Francis Foley commended the “excellent” machine, which, he said, can be used on everything from tractors to laptops and encouraged people to avail of it.
Cllr John Sheahan, meanwhile, said the thieves have to have a market for what they steal.
“Farmers that might buy fertiliser from an unknown source are not doing anyone any favours. If there is no market it won’t be stolen,” he said.