A fertile ground for thieves
The pandemic, soaring prices, and economic pain have combined to create perfect conditions for thieves and fraudsters. Theft of commodities such as lumber, metals, and food crops is nothing new. Yet the combination of higher prices, the pandemic, and the hit to economies has created an unusually fertile ground for criminals. Amarendra Panda, an assistant commissioner of police in Cuttack in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, says his officers have raided about 20 premises recently and confiscated what he calls “adulterated commodities” worth millions of rupees, or tens of thousands of dollars. “Their motive was to earn huge profits by investing as little as possible,” he says. In the US, lumber prices soared to an all-time high in May and are now more than double what they were a year ago. Copper is up 70pc over the same period, having also hit a record last month. Global food prices increased for a 12th straight month in May to the highest in almost a decade.