Robbers cash in on high world prices for coffee

Some farmers harvesting coffee in remote areas of Central America have armed themselves after a spike in robberies became an unexpected side effect of soaring international coffee prices.

 

Prices for arabica coffee, the type most commonly grown in the region, hit 13-year highs last week, following months of strong gains, as tight global supplies help push up the market.

 

The trickle-down effect has been a dramatic jump in thefts of freshly picked coffee cherries in El Salvador and Honduras, where farmers have been assaulted or kidnapped and trucks carrying coffee hijacked.

 

Original source: Reuters