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VALLEY CENTER, Calif. -The thieves come in the dead of night, after
it rains and the hillsides are empty, or during a full moon. They disappear
into jungly thickets on steep, remote hillsides, stepping carefully through
the groves to avoid crunching leaves before doing their dirty work. They
operate stealthily, without clippers, amassing warty, thick-skinned booty
by the hundreds.
Allen Luce, a retired beekeeper, suspected the worst recently when he spied
an unfamiliar red pickup truck parked beside the lush canopies of his neighbors’
thousand-acre avocado grove. "At a dollar or more a pound, it adds
up pretty fast," he said, speaking of the Hope diamond of these parts:
the avocado.
They call it green gold.
"When the Super Bowl comes, there is going to be thievery," Mr.
Luce said. "People want guacamole."
from the
New York Times
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