Police hunt Spanish hamburglars after thieves steal €200,000 of prized Christmas meat
21 November 2024, 13:23
Police have launched a manhunt after thieves stole an estimated €200,000 of prized Christmas ham from a family business.
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Spanish police are hunting the criminals after 400 legs of the nation's finest ham was pilfered from a gourmet supplier ahead of the festive season.
The Iberian acorn-fed ham, considered a carnivorous speciality with its 'Protected Designation of Origin Jabugo' seal, had been destined for Christmas tables around the world.
However, thieves raiding Jamones Eíriz in Corteconcepción, a mountains region in southern Andalusia, made off with a third of the supplier's stock during the early hours of November 13.
Police investigating the tons of pilfered meat now believe that five people were involved in the crime, with suggestions it was an inside job.
It comes just weeks after a similarly audacious plot to secure dairy produce - dubbed 'the great cheese robbery' - which saw celebrity chef Jamie Oliver appeal to the public for help.
Domingo Eíriz, a member of the family that runs Jamones Eíriz, said they had been alerted to the crime after a worker asked: “Domingo, where are the hams, have you taken them?”
He added that despite the meat being valued by weight, each of the stolen legs was value at more than €500.
Speaking with Spain's Antena 3 television, Eíriz added: “When I saw they were gone, I told everyone not to touch anything.
"[The thieves] have stolen the third most valuable gourmet product in the world, they knew what they were up to and they did it right in the Christmas season, with the orders we had.
"This is a destruction of years of work.”
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A small, independent business, Jamones Eíriz was founded in 1818 and employs 20 people, eight of whom are family members.
The crime was flagged by the company on social media, with speculation surrounding insider involvement arising after the family stored the ham in an unusual location.
“It was not a place where we usually have this product. It had been brought here specifically to label it,” Eíriz said.
It comes just weeks after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver took to instagram after hundreds of wheels of cheddar, worth more than £300,000, were stolen from cheesemaker Neal’s Yard Dairy.
The Southwark-based cheese company said scammers posing as legitimate French wholesale retailers, made off with 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork Cheddar.
However, the culprit was soon apprehended by the Met, with the force announcing a 63-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the "elaborate" cloth-bound cheese heist.
