RURAL property owners are being targeted by fraudsters offering big bucks for beef or game meat, who then refuse to pay up.
Police from the Major and Organised Crime Squad (Rural) said they had received several complaints where property owners entered into agreements with people purporting to be beef or roo meat wholesalers.
The offenders offer high price returns but once the meat is sold, the complainants not paid. Police have urged farmers to exercise caution when entering into agreements with new or unknown meat wholesalers or buyers.
Meanwhile, there has also been an increase in reports of trespassers on rural properties across Queensland.
Detective Inspector Mick Dowie said people were being found driving in remote areas on large pastoral properties, and when challenged, do not have permission or any reasonable excuse to be there.
“These people are quite often trespassing for the purposes of hunting and having a person shooting on a property without permission poses a very serious threat to the community,” Insp Dowie said.
He said trespassing for the purpose of hunting, and the unlawful taking of wildlife, including feral pics, was an offence that attracted significant fines.
Insp Dowie said trespassers were committing opportunistic theft while on the properties, and said they were spoiling it for legitimate hunters as farmers closed-off access to protect their interests.
“We often find that people committing opportunistic theft when they come across machinery such as pumps, generators and quad bikes and will use the excuse they are only hunting if challenged by the farmer,” he said.
“These thieves and reckless hunters give legitimate hunters with appropriate approvals a bad name and farmers and producers simply close off their properties to protect themselves and their interests.
“We will prosecute trespassers on rural properties to protect property owners and industry as they have enough on their hands with the current drought conditions.”
Insp Dowie urged landholders to report trespassers to police, and take photographs of the offenders and their vehicles if it was safe to do so.