Guardia Civil investigates seven people over avocado and banana thefts on farms in northern Tenerife

La Guardia Civil is investigating seven people as suspected perpetrators of at least four property crimes — theft and petty theft, one of them on a continuing basis — involving the removal of around 950 kilograms of avocados and 280 kilograms of bananas from agricultural holdings in the Tenerife municipalities of Icod de los Vinos and La Matanza. According to information released by the force, the suspects are five men aged between 25 and 50 and two women aged 29 and 49, all residents of various municipalities in the north of the island.

The case is being handled by officers from the ROCA Team of the Comandancia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a unit that specialises in the investigation of agricultural and livestock theft. The investigation found that the suspects are repeat offenders with multiple prior police records for similar offences.

Modus operandi

According to a Guardia Civil statement, the suspects lived near the farms targeted in the thefts, which allowed them to monitor the schedules of the owners and tenant farmers. Some entered the properties when they knew no one was present — climbing perimeter fences where these existed — while others waited outside in a vehicle to act as lookouts and to transport the stolen produce.

On one occasion, while the suspects were in the act of committing one of the thefts, officers from the Icod de los Vinos main post who were conducting routine public safety patrols spotted a suspicious car near a banana farm. When they stopped the vehicle and carried out a surface search, they found eight bunches of bananas in the rear seats and boot, weighing approximately 280 kilograms, which had just been stolen; the produce was seized. Officers also confiscated several tools and implements allegedly used to carry out the thefts.

The driver of the vehicle had no driving licence and is therefore also under investigation for a road safety offence.

Inspections and traceability checks

Following the avocado thefts, ROCA Team officers, supported by the Fiscal and Borders Patrol (PAFIF) and the Seprona — both units attached to the Puerto de la Cruz company — carried out inspections and searches at various commercial premises. The aim was to monitor avocado sales and trace any stolen fruit by examining characteristics such as variety and size, in order to verify its origin.

Officers ultimately found several boxes of avocados at a food shop in Icod de los Vinos whose traceability could not be established. As a result, the shop owner was served with a number of infringement notices for alleged violations of Ley 6/2019, of 9 April, on Agri-food Quality — classified as minor and serious infringements under Articles 50 and 51 of the law — on the grounds that the fruit lacked the required labelling and documentation needed to guarantee its origin and compliance with health controls.

Potential penalties

Article 54.1 of the aforementioned law establishes that minor infringements may be punished with a formal warning or a fine of up to 4,000 euros; serious infringements carry fines of between 4,001 and 150,000 euros; and very serious infringements are subject to penalties of between 150,001 and 3,000,000 euros.

Although the investigation focuses on the thefts committed on farms in northern Tenerife, the largest potential financial penalty — which at its maximum could reach three million euros — is therefore linked to the agri-food quality violations and the sale of products without the required documentation.

The Guardia Civil directed media enquiries to the Press Office of the Comandancia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The case bears similarities to another investigation publicised in July 2025, in which the same ROCA Team investigated seven people for the theft of more than 440 kilograms of avocados from farms in the north of the island.