Saw Palmetto berry burglars arrested after new law creates felony punishment

Florida cracks down on saw palmetto berry theft

It’s now a third-degree felony to harvest saw palmetto berries without a permit, but that’s not stopping some thieves.

LAKELAND, Fla. - If you've seen certain small berries growing in clumps out in the wild, they may be Saw Palmetto berries, and this is the time of year they're often poached.

It's now a third-degree felony in the state of Florida to harvest them without permission – and to buy poached berries – but that hasn't stopped some individuals.

The theft of Saw Palmetto berries is not new. Ken Gioeli, a natural resources agent for the University of Florida's IFAS Extension, says it has been happening for years from both public and private lands. But what makes them so sought after?

"They're used in the medical field and people can buy supplements and it treats a number of different ailments," said Gioeli. "One of them are enlarged prostate and prostate issues, so it can help people with medical problems."

On July 1, new regulations went into effect to create harsher penalties for poachers and people who buy from the poachers. Harvesting the berries without a permit or the landowner's permission is now a third-degree felony and can land an individual up to five years in prison.

Within the last week in Polk County, four were arrested in two separate incidents for stealing berries in the Frostproof area.

"They said we have a permit and permission to take the berries from this private property. Wrong. They didn't have permission. It's hard to believe, but they lied to us," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

And in Manatee County, a couple was arrested earlier this month. In the arrest affidavit, it states one of the suspects told the deputy he tried to get a free permit through the state but was denied many times.

Deputies say the berries can sell for about 75 cents a pound and can sometimes get up to $3.50 a pound. They add that the thieves sometimes sell them to roadside buyers, but the berries generally make their way down to Immokalee and then are shipped to China for processing.

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"Saw Palmetto plants are considered to be commercially exploited," said Gioeli.

Gioeli says he hopes people do things the legal way because the berries also play a critical role in our environment.

"If you have a season where poachers illegally go into natural areas and trespass and collect these berries, basically there's no way for the plants themselves to regenerate and grow a new generation of plants and then whatever wildlife is there [is] going to suffer as well."

Some of the suspects in Polk County were given a $5,000 bond.

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