Thieves Steal Tobacco Worth $29,000

Source from:  Kate Schwass SIMCOE REFORMER Thursday November 01, 2007 11/02/2007

It's a devastating theft for farm family, says tobacco board The latest theft of more than $29,000 worth of tobacco from a Norfolk farm is another hit for growers already reeling from a crumbling industry. "We have seen upwards of a dozen thefts in the past year," Linda Lietaer, media relations officer for the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Board, said yesterday. "It's getting more and more prevalent." The board offers a $10,000 reward to anyone who can offer information that leads to a conviction. Lietaer said given the "depressed" state of the tobacco industry, thefts like this can be devastating to a farm family. "It's a major loss to the farmer. There's no room for loss or thefts," she said. "That's out of his pocket . . . when this happens the whole community suffers, the industry suffers." Norfolk OPP were called to the Brantford Road farm north of Delhi Monday morning. The large quantity of tobacco appears to have been stolen sometime between Friday and Monday. The thieves forced open a door to gain entry into the barn. Norfolk OPP Const. Mark Foster said it's unknown if all the tobacco was taken in one trip or if the thieves returned and made several trips. Tracking the stolen tobacco can be difficult too, Foster said. While farmers will put markings on the paper that covers the tobacco, "the paper is usually the first thing to go." The theft of tobacco is not new in this area, but the large amount is unusual. In February, tobacco worth $1,600 was taken from several barns on the west side of Norfolk. In April 2006, 200 bales of tobacco were stolen from a farm on Concession Road 4. This most recent theft is likely the largest one from a farm. The next closest one is a theft of tobacco from a Pinegrove farm in January 2005 where the theft was estimated to cost the farmer $10,000. In June 2004, more than $200,000 in tobacco was stolen from the Simcoe Leaf processing plant. At the time, it was thought the tobacco taken from Simcoe Leaf was heading to the flourishing cigarette black market. Neither Foster or Lietaer said they could speculate yesterday where the latest stolen tobacco might be headed. To stop thefts, Foster said there are a number of things farmers can do. The first is to lock their barns. As well, he said if a farmer has a dog and they hear the dog barking, go check it out. "The dog is doing its job, it's alerting you something is wrong," Foster said. As well, he said farmers can install driveway alarms, which act just like a doorbell and when someone comes down the driveway, there's an alert in the house. Enditem