Detectives investigating the theft of more than £300,000 worth of high-end cheddar cheese have now arrested six men.
Last October, Neal’s Yard Dairy said it had delivered 950 wheels of cloth-bound cheese to who they believed to be a a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer.
However, the dairy had in fact been tricked by alleged fraudsters, who had spent months convincing them they were legitimate customers.
The London-based artisanal cheese company only realised they had given 22-tonnes of the cheddar to fraudsters when they did not receive payment for the goods, which were taken in two truckloads.
A 63-year-old man was arrested in the days that followed on suspicion of fraud by false representation and handling stolen goods.
News of the investigation went quiet for some time, but the force has now confirmed a total of six men aged between 37 and 63 have been arrested in connection with the plot.
The flurry of further arrests began in the new year, with a 37-year-old man being arrested on January 2 on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and handling stolen goods.
Two more men, aged 63 and 45, were also arrested in January, while a 57-year-old was arrested in April.
The latest arrest came on July 3, when a 54-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and handling stolen goods.
The Met Police said a further 50-year-old man was interviewed under caution on July 4.
All six have been released under investigation pending further enquiries and the investigation, being led by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, is still ongoing.
Neal’s Yard Dairy has sold British and Irish farm-made and artisan cheeses since the 1980s. It has four shops in London and also sells online and by subscription.
The robbery involved artisan cheddars, including Hafod Welsh, Westcombe, and Pitchfork, sell from between £7 and £12 for around 300g.
Tom Calver, director of Westcombe Dairy in Westcombe, Somerset, produced some of the stolen cheese and said he was “hugely distressed” when he heard the news.
“It is ridiculous – out of all the things to steal in the world – 22 tonnes of cheese?” Mr Calver, 42, added. “What it does show, which I am amazed about, is the value people put on these amazing artisan foods.”
In the wake of the incident, the Southwark-based company urged cheesemongers around the world to contact them if they suspect they have been sold the stolen cheddar, particularly cheese wheels in a 10kg or 24kg format.
It said it had still paid the producers of the cheese so the individual dairies would not have to bear the costs and is now working with police to identify the perpetrators.
Patrick Holden, owner of Holden Farm Dairy, previously told The Independent that two-and-a-half tonnes of his Hafod Welsh cheddar, made using a hundred-year-old recipe from his 90-cow herd, was among the stock allegedly stolen.
He said: “It was the biggest order we ever had – so it was quite a shock.
“Our cheese is limited in quantity but we had it in storage and we worked out it was the most we could spare.”
