MUMBAI, INDIA – In a weighty tomato theft to make your head spin, officials in India have taken an ambitious vegetable thief into custody after he stole 2.66 tons of tomatoes. 

So just how does the crime underworld come into possession of over 5,300 lbs of pulpy tomatoes? Being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time. 

“The accused went to a vegetable market in Santa Cruz [India] and on finding an unattended truck of a wholesaler, made do with it. The tomatoes had to be supplied to various vendors in the city,” said a crime branch officer of the arrest.

According to AsianAge.com, the thief in question then sold the stolen goods to produce vendors in the surrounding areas. Officials patrolling the Santa Cruz market noticed that vendors were selling the tomatoes at extremely low prices, far below the area’s standard market price. 

“Tomatoes are currently very expensive, but these vendors were selling it for low prices which we found suspicious. When the officers inquired with them, they could not give satisfactory answers,” said an officer. 

After further questioning by authorities, the Santa Cruz vendors caved and gave the thief, Ranjen Ramachandra Jaiswal, up to officials. Upon further inspection, officials found that Jaiswal had also traveled to another produce market in Dadar and continued his string of underpriced, blackmarket tomato sales to vendors there, as well.

“He was going to sell them at other markets when we arrested him,” finished the officer.

Authorities stated to AsianAge.com that they managed to recover nearly 1.98 of the 2.66 tons stolen from the hijacked wholesale truck.

As it turns out even the enticing appeal of tomatoes is not immune to an ill-advised cash opportunity. As food theft inches on the rise, AndNowUKnow will have the latest on your meatiest stories.