Nut theft ring cracked?

SACRAMENTO —  Authorities believe that they have captured the ringleaders of a sophisticated almond-theft operation that robbed Central Valley farmers of $2 million worth of nuts this year.

Almond growers hope that the arrests late Sunday night mark a turning point in efforts to stop a string of brazen thefts targeting California’s top export crop.

A witness who had read news reports about recent nut thefts called police Sunday after seeing workers loading boxes from various nut processors into a rental truck at a Sacramento warehouse, Merced County Sheriff’s Det. Vince Gallagher said.

The tipster wrote down the name on one of the boxes, and police confirmed that the packing company had recently reported having nuts stolen.

Authorities uncovered more than 123,000 pounds of almonds and 13,000 pounds of walnuts at the warehouse and at another West Sacramento storage facility being used by the same individuals, Gallagher said.

“This is the break we’ve been waiting for,” he said Tuesday.

Police arrested Sukhwinder Singh Grewal, 41, and Amrik Singh, 27, on suspicion of receiving and possessing stolen property, Gallagher said.

Grewal is the owner of Sona Spice Co., a Sacramento-based importer and wholesaler of goods from India.

Calls to Sona were answered Tuesday by Grewal’s wife, Ravinder Grewal, who said her husband had been released on bail and was looking for a lawyer.

Grewal said she had never met Amrik Singh and that he did not work for Sona Spice.

Investigators suspect the almonds inside the warehouse had been stolen from orchards throughout the Central Valley. The importer was selling them in unmarked boxes to mom-and-pop stores throughout California and parts of Canada, Gallagher said.