3d ago

Germany: Police sniff out illicit wild garlic operation

www.dw.com Germany: Police sniff out illicit wild garlic operation – DW – 02/04/2025

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.

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So if it can only be collected in small amounts and it's in such high demand why isn't more grown?
- Because then it wouldn't be wild garlic any more, would it? 😝
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Asking my garlic head friends if they’re more into ursinum’s or sativum’s
- 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
  
  https://feddit.org/comment/4557081

30 comments