Germany: Police sniff out illicit wild garlic operation
Germany: Police sniff out illicit wild garlic operation
Police in eastern Germany followed their nose to discover an illegal plant harvesting ring. Officers seized a large quantity of wild garlic — a protected springtime plant that is used in the catering industry.
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.
The fuck? I thought this was an onion article.
It's pretty clearly a garlic article.
I knew this was coming and it still made me laugh. Well done.
Garlicle
Should be in not the onion
Big TIL moment
Call them what they are: Poachers.
And probably roasters and aioli makers too.
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.
Reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdVziDruzyk
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!! ?!;:%££¥!
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
You just ate garlic straight? Never heard of that.
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
Wild garlic is more like onion chives, but smell like garlic
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?
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum, German: Bärlauch) is a native plant and not invasive in Germany. It's not like it's everywhere as it usually needs alluvial, deciduous forests but common enough that most locals usually know a spot or two. It may look like lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis, German: Maiglöckchen) or autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale, German: Herbstzeitlose) which are both poisonous but that's not the reason why you're not allowed to pick large amounts. The Federal Nature Protection Law (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz, see paragraph 39 for details) forbids the collection of any wild plants or animals, independent of their protection status to disturb natural processes as little as possible. However certain exemptions are possible, think hunting, fishing, or the collection of wild herbs for example. While the former two require a license and are restricted to certain area or seasons, the latter is limited by the amount you may take. It explicitly states to only take amounts that are for personal use and that commercial collection is prohibited. It's obviously to prevent overexploitation. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon that naturally occurring stocks of wild herbs, mushrooms or berries are used up and destroyed by illegal and unsustainable usage. Also, yes wild herbs are commercially grown on farms but as you can imagine, they don't come cheap at all.
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.
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.
So if it can only be collected in small amounts and it's in such high demand why isn't more grown?
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.
Well then it wouldnt be wild, would it
Well not always, but on Saturday when it can find a sitter, watch out
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.
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.
Context: The death of Oury Jalloh
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): https://youtube.com/watch?v=uVqtks3H148 (1/2), https://youtube.com/watch?v=7WZ4ZpwuDQw (2/2)