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Germany: Police sniff out illicit wild garlic operation


Summary

Police in Saxony, Germany, uncovered an illegal wild garlic harvesting ring, seizing 100 kg of bulbs worth thousands of euros.

Six suspects, including repeat offenders, were caught in two separate vehicles with bags of the protected plant.

Wild garlic, prized in cooking, can only be collected in small amounts for personal use under German law. Large-scale theft is a recurring issue.

The suspects are now under investigation for gang theft.

This entry was edited (10 months ago)
in reply to MicroWave

Wild garlic is to die for. I remember the first time I had it was on a trip to england, wentall over but down in cornwall the stuff grows like weeds, so whenever I was walking I grabbed a bunch and chomped away, 2 days later everyone woke up to the fine scent of garlic... I was barred from eating any more wild garlic for the rest if the trip
in reply to artificialfish

It’s good, plus as a person with pale skin it acts a social signal to reassure others in my presence that I am not in fact a vampire
in reply to MicroWave

So if it can only be collected in small amounts and it's in such high demand why isn't more grown?
in reply to protist

feddit.org/comment/4557081


Nope, wild garlic is not garlic just grown outside of gardens.

Garlic is a tuber while wild garlic is a leafy plant which just happens to smell a lot like garlic.


in reply to protist

Well not always, but on Saturday when it can find a sitter, watch out
in reply to JohnWorks

It's not economical to grow. It has very specific requirements in terms of wet soil and not too much sun, it has pretty low yields in terms of weight/area, compared to other crops. and since it isn't grown commercially, you also dont have optimized farming techniques and breeds etc.

and since it's quite common in the wild, well, if the price is too high, you'd just go and collect some yourself. Wild garlic products in supermarkets are already too expensive for me and i'd rather spend half an hour filling a bag with 2kg than buying 50g for 5 bucks.

Unknown parent

lemmy - Link to source
einkorn

Nope, wild garlic is not garlic just grown outside of gardens.

Garlic is a tuber while wild garlic is a leafy plant which just happens to smell a lot like garlic.

in reply to MicroWave

They turned to stop and inspect the vehicle and noticed a pungent smell coming from the trunk. They asked the three Russian national occupants, aged 27, 29 and 39, to open it up.


This has me imagining some type of spoof comedy about the Russian mob and their illegal wild garlic harvests going up against the Mexican cartels and their avocado racket.

in reply to NOT_RICK

Reminded me of this:
in reply to NOT_RICK

Behind the avocado, you got the Mexican cheese Mafia.... Hey! I smell cotija all over this guy! Can you believe it!? Ahh! Forget about it! I thought we was Mexican boss! Yeah I thought that same way Bobby! But the guy on the phone likes the good feathers from the aninaniacs too much. Too much? Too much! Come here! I'll give you too much you sonobabish! Too much cheese! Is that it! I'm just here to entertain you or something? That's it!! ?!;:%££¥!
in reply to einkorn

The wild garlic being discussed here is Allium ursinum, domesticated garlic is Allium sativum and you can totally eat the leaves in addition to the bulb. There are also lots of other edible species of garlic found across the world. They are all collectively in the garlic genus and are all different forms of garlic.
This entry was edited (10 months ago)
in reply to MicroWave

Three panel Patrick meme, very dumb to very smart: Dumb: "German cops protecting democracy and human rights"; Smart: "German cops detecting illegal wild garlic harvesting"; Very Smart: "German cops burning POC alive"

Context: The death of Oury Jalloh
::: spoiler TW: Pig brutality, death, murder | explanation
Basically: Cops in east-Germany (officially rightfully, but even that is disputed) detained a black man and chained him to the the bed. According to them: Later one cop hears a splashing sound, then they ignore two fire/smoke alarms, and when they finally look for him he's just randomly burning alive. Of course, evidence gets faked, testimonies change depending on time and person, so nothing can be proven and they don't get convicted. According to the pigs, he must've used a lighter (that later spawned in the evidence bag) to burn himself. Which has been proven to be impossible, of course.

Videos summarizing the topics (in German): youtube.com/watch?v=uVqtks3H14… (1/2), youtube.com/watch?v=7WZ4ZpwuDQ… (2/2)
:::

in reply to MicroWave

why is that illegal? The article says that picking it naturally can be dangerous because it looks like some poisonous plants, so why not just let them grow it normally? or better yet since apparently it's invasive, why not a dedicated farm?
in reply to TriflingToad

Some species don't grow very well in agricultural settings -- especially forest products.

If you harvest too much from public property, then you're breaking the law.

Maybe people will figure out how to farm it, which would probably lower the price enough so that people stop poaching it.

in reply to TriflingToad

in reply to TriflingToad

See HiobsTriops excellent answer

It's not illegal to harvest from your own ground, garden or farm. This is about wild plants picked in the woods. Woods have special regulations.

in reply to MicroWave

Call them what they are: Poachers.

And probably roasters and aioli makers too.

in reply to protist

Asking my garlic head friends if they’re more into ursinum’s or sativum’s
in reply to MicroWave

Ironically, I have so much garlic growing in my yard, I can’t give it away. It’s spreading everywhere and taking over everything.

I’m guessing this garlic is different than mine though.

in reply to MicroWave

Ohh. Bärlauch. Which yes is an allium but just using "wild garlic" makes you think we're talking about garlic that happens to be wild, and bulbs. Taking the bulb with you with this stuff is culinarily pointless and hurts the population. Which is also why the stuff out of supermarket, which isn't wild but grown on fields, comes as leaves and flowers without bulbs.