"It's a serious crime, this is an important industry and it takes away from the producers who have put months and sometimes years into the development of these plants,"
"Sometimes they're not paid for that product until it's sold to a customer that's called pay by scan and so when plants are taken retail centers that use that type of model, our growers are never compensated for those plants,"
"Really that kind of unregulated plant movement, that is one of the top ways we can spread invasive species, whether that's insects, weeds, pathogens, that's how they can spread around California,"
A community tip led the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office to recover about $11,000 worth of stolen plants at a San Jose home. Over the course of a year, three suspects allegedly stole plants from Ace Hardware in Saratoga and from Lowe's and Home Depot locations across Santa Clara County, then sold the plants at flea markets. Recovered greenery included landscape plants, small Christmas trees, indoor plants, and citrus trees. Stolen-plant sales can deprive growers of payment under pay-by-scan retail models and can enable spread of invasive insects, weeds, and pathogens. A local shop owner reported a recent attempted theft, and targeted businesses did not respond to outreach.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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