When you hear of a heist, you probably think of a cat burglar dressed in black stealing fine art or jewels. However, this time a Dutch cheese shop in Knegsel was the target of a premeditated heist where the perpetrators looted over 1.000 kilograms of award-winning cheese.
Nieuwerwets, a family-owned cheese shop in Knegsel, had three delivery wagons full of Dutch cheese stolen from them overnight. Each truck had been loaded with around 350 kilograms of cheese. The crime was reported to the police after an employee discovered the empty trucks at the beginning of his work day.
The owners of the cheese shop believe that the reason they were targeted has to do with their recent award at the National Cheese Inspection, where they won gold. "Maybe that's why the thieves saw an opportunity. I'd rather not say how much that shipment is worth, before I give even more people ideas," cheese shop owner Wilco de Crom told Omroep Brabant.
De Crom and his brother believe the crime was well-thought-out, as moving that much cheese takes a long time. “They were busy for over an hour,” De Crom said. Surveillance footage from neighbouring properties shows the thieves driving a van through a field nearby, breaking through a hedge and forcing the cheese shop gate open. They then used the company’s wheelbarrow to move the cheese.
More and more cheese shops have been targeted by burglars in recent years. “You can easily spend between 100 and 150 euros per whole cheese,” Wim Meure of the Association of Farm Dairy Producers told RTL Nieuws. Last year, 20.000 euros worth of produce was stolen from a cheese store in the Netherlands.
“Even with everything locked up, something like this can still happen. It makes you furious,” De Crom said. The owners of Nieuwerwets have asked customers and the public to keep an eye out for the stolen cheese, hoping that someone will notice when the cheese is out of place and report it.