“Be careful, they are dangerous. There are a blue Doblò and a gray car. They get in the way. They’re about to rob some tractors. We have also notified the carabinieri ». The message, desperate, entrusted to a WhatsApp chat. A series of vowels with which a farmer from Bari alerts his colleagues. He sees everything with his own eyes, on the road that leads from Giovinazzo to Molfetta. A series of audio of a few seconds, one after the other, to tell others not to pass through there. And spread the word.
In the Apulian countryside an escalation of thefts and raids, to the point that there are those who try to control the territory themselves. In social groups there are suspicious presences – of possible ambushes – while the harvest is manned by the farmers themselves. Now the fear is for the olive-growing campaign that has just begun: the alarm for the thefts of olives is growing by day and by night. Daily raids, with damaged trees, which have pushed those who live in the countryside to organize themselves with real patrols at all hours. «The thieves – explains Coldiretti – manage to take away over 30 kg of olives per tree, beating the olive trees with iron or aluminum sticks. All in a few minutes ». In this way they drop a large amount of fruit, but damage the plants. There are gangs of criminals at work, also equipped with nets to collect the greatest number of olives. This is coupled with the insult: often, farmers are forced to employ additional labor to retrieve the stolen goods from the ground that the thieves are unable to take away.
From the association the request for a control room between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Interior with a coordination of the police. While, in areas of high risk, the intervention of the Army is requested. In particular in the Bat and in the provinces of Bari. «In rural areas a worrying daily life. Companies need security, while crime forces a climate of fear ». Among the peasants, the tension is great. Many feel abandoned by the institutions. Episodes that are repeated constantly, such as the theft of agricultural vehicles worth thousands of euros. And then there are those linked to seasonality: almonds, wine and table grapes, vegetables. Scares and damages in economic terms, while the fear for their personal safety rises. There are those who tell of assaults or of having seen firsthand “vehicles placed in the middle of the road to prevent transit”. Farmers try to react as they can. And even a voice on WhatsApp can help avoid the worst.