Police Apprehendes Vegetable, Fruit Trucks Suspected of Alleged 'Illegal Trade'

A task force formed by the city's Trade & Industry Bureau and its police department has arrested drivers and brokers along with 15 trucks for allegedly selling fruit and vegetables 'illegally'.

The operation began after midnight at 2:00am and stayed for three hours in the morning. The trucks were loaded with onion, watermelon, avocado and orange. The detainees were found selling the vegetables and fruits without receipts and forged receipts, according to Girma Haile, head of Trade Bureau of Wereda 07, under Arada District.

"They're also selling these food items, on the roads while Atkilt Tera is the only designated area for vegetables and fruits market," he told Fortune.

Many of the trucks were loaded with onion, according to police.

Last month, headline inflation reached 17.9pc, a record high rate in the past five years. The rate has spiked driven by the non-food inflation rate that went up as high as 23pc. Out of the food items that have shown a drastic increase was onion, which was sold for 30 Br to 35 Br a kilogram, showing a double price increase.

The trucks are made to stay at the premises of Tesfa Berhan Cooperative Union, located at Wereda 07 of Arada District, behind Lycee Gebremariam School.

While police will keep on the investigation on the drivers and brokers, the vegetables and fruits will be handed over to the Cooperative Union since the food items are perishable, according to Girma.

"The Cooperative Union will sell them at a lower price," Girma, told Fortune.