Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
cheese market Alkmaar
Alkmaar Cheese Market on April 9, 2004 (photo: de:Benutzer:Yoshi / Wikimedia) - Credit: Alkmaar Cheese Market on April 9, 2004 (photo: de:Benutzer:Yoshi / Wikimedia)
Crime
Bergen op Zoom
De Zuidgeest
Genderen
Irene van de Voort
Ivonne Noordam
Marjo Huijsmans
Noord-Brabant
theft
Friday, 8 January 2016 - 15:30
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Dutch crime wave sees 8,500 kilos of cheese stolen

Criminals in the Netherlands made off with about 8,500 kilograms of cheese in nine different incidents last year. Remarkably, in at least one instance, the cheese was stolen with a great deal of care and love, newspaper NRC reported. The cheese may possibly have wound up on the Russian market, thinks Irene van de Voort of the Dairy Farmers and Producers Association. Cheese has become a rare treat in Russia ever since the EU sanctioned the nation and Russia responded with boycotts of European products, she said. “It is a scarce commodity, and that drives the price up. It would explain why suddenly so much was stolen,” she told the NRC. Farmers speculate that Eastern Europeans are to blame, but have no concrete evidence proving it. Ivonne Noordam, of the Noordam dairy farm, was robbed on October 1 two years in a row. “Exactly when the seasonal workers return to Eastern Europe. In one of the cases, thieves made off with approximately 1,500 kilos from the De Zuidgeest cheese farm in Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant. That figure was later revised up to about 2,000 kilos at a retail value of 18 thousand euros, De Zuidgeest’s Marjo Huijsmans told the newspaper. They used a wheelbarrow to take the large wheels of cheese from the farm to cars waiting nearby. This was done “so that the cheese would not become dirty,” Huijsmans said. The robbers had even covered their shoes to keep the farm’s storefront floor clean. Security was boosted at the facility, and Huijsmans is still in discussions with the insurance agency. A few months earlier, two other cheese farms in Noord-Brabant were looted. One farm in Genderen, Noord-Brabant lost 25 thousand euros worth of cheese. The owner of the farm told the newspaper that four "Eastern Block types" could be seen on the security camera footage during the theft. Meanwhile, Huijsmans hopes to have aged cheese back in stock soon. She says it will take about two more months for the cheese to hit store shelves.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Hospitals vary widely in when they refer babies to pediatricians
  • The Netherlands has given Ukraine over €1 billion in military aid alone
  • The Netherlands and Morocco look to expand extradition agreement
  • Confidence in Dutch government & central bank has fallen sharply
  • Air France-KLM, Lufthansa could acquire bankrupt Flybe to access landing slots
  • Dutch more worried about natural disasters; Half think country will become uninhabitable

Top stories

  • Netherlands to send a search & rescue team to Turkey after 7.8 magnitude earthquake
  • Dutch employers becoming less critical during hiring process
  • Multiple writers receive threats after defending Pim Lammers, "Unacceptable": Dutch PM
  • Woman killed, 10 hurt in several stabbing incidents over the weekend
  • Regional bus, train staff start 5-day strike; Some Arriva trains running, NS unaffected
  • Police arrest suspect for fatal fire in Arnhem

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content