Summary
Police in Saxony, Germany, uncovered an illegal wild garlic harvesting ring, seizing 100 kg of bulbs worth thousands of euros.
Six suspects, including repeat offenders, were caught in two separate vehicles with bags of the protected plant.
Wild garlic, prized in cooking, can only be collected in small amounts for personal use under German law. Large-scale theft is a recurring issue.
The suspects are now under investigation for gang theft.
Because then it wouldn’t be wild garlic any more, would it? 😝
Nope, wild garlic is not garlic just grown outside of gardens.
Garlic is a tuber while wild garlic is a leafy plant which just happens to smell a lot like garlic.
The wild garlic being discussed here is Allium ursinum, domesticated garlic is Allium sativum and you can totally eat the leaves in addition to the bulb. There are also lots of other edible species of garlic found across the world. They are all collectively in the garlic genus and are all different forms of garlic.
Asking my garlic head friends if they’re more into ursinum’s or sativum’s