KONYAVO, Bulgaria — Bulgarian forces with night-vision goggles appear to be winning an extraordinary fight over thieves seeking to make off with this year’s lucrative cherry harvest.
For many years, the thieves had little trouble raiding Bulgarian cherry farms at night. That was before the “cherry war” by police and border guards.
This season, police say, few thieves have successfully stolen the fruit in a poor western region known as Bulgaria’s “cherry orchard,” and the farmers are feeling optimistic.
Sylvia Hristova, whose family relies almost entirely on cherry production, said their income appears safe from thieves this spring and she is overjoyed.
“The cherries are our bread and butter, after all,” she said.
Before the government-funded battle began, thieves raided the orchards across the region at night, picking most of the fruit and making easy money by selling it the next day at markets in nearby cities.
Farmers could find no way of stopping them.
Two years ago, Plamen Momchilov, a 46-year-old farmer, was killed by cherry thieves as he tried to keep them out of his orchard. Later, nine thieves were arrested and confessed to beating Momchilov to death with sticks and shovel handles. They were sentenced to 99 years in prison but are currently free pending an appeal.
The attack stirred outrage in the region, prompting authorities to impose this season’s tough measures aimed at protecting farmers’ property. The police and border guards are using night-vision equipment to keep cherry farms under surveillance and to protect them from thieves.
During this cherry season, which lasts from mid-May to the end of June, the region has turned into a war zone, with roadblocks in the outskirts of the villages and police searching all vehicles for stolen fruit.
Katya Tabachka, a police spokeswoman in Kyustendil, said the normal work of border police has not suffered because of the additional assignment.
“Border guards are working extra time for which they will be compensated,” she said.
Tabachka also said that this season no major thefts of cherries have been reported in the region.
