Given that the price of avocados has skyrocketed in recent months, it no wonder a few criminals in California started dealing in black-market avocados. Three workers at the Mission Produce ripening facility in Oxnard, Calif. have been arrested and charged with grand theft of up to $300,000 worth of avocados, says the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. The men — 28-year-old Joseph Valenzuela, 30-year-old Rahim Leblanc and 28-year-old Carlos Chavez — had reportedly been conducting unauthorized cash sales from the facility itself, perhaps for several months. Seeing an opportunity to make a few quick bucks, the thieves simply continued to conduct the transactions and pocketed the cash, says Mission Produce president Steve Barnard. “It’s a big product here and in California.”Valenzuela, Leblanc and Chavez are being held in jail on bail of $250,000 each.

Source: Fox News June 19, 2017 14:02 UTC