Posted March 22, 2017 10:43:54

Members of a crime gang dedicated to the theft of luxury cheese and fine wine worth tens of thousands of dollars have been arrested in Modena, Italy.

Operation Wine and Cheese was aimed at breaking up a crime ring that had stolen fine foods worth €180,000 ($AU250,000), police said.

The gang has stolen about 16,000 bottles of fine wine and 168 wheels of Parmesan cheese in robberies dating back to 2015.

They had targeted cheese factories, shops and homes in Emilia-Romagna, a region renowned for its high-quality produce, local news agencies reported.

Photo: A single wheel of cheese can sell for more than $500. (Reuters: Alessandro Bianchi)

Police said one member of the gang had professional links to agricultural businesses in the region and had passed information on to his accomplices.

Ten people were arrested, police said, and one suspect remained at large.

But food theft is not limited to just one region of Italy — experts say it is a country-wide problem.

Agricultural organisation Coldiretti told news agency ANSA that $14 million worth of Parmesan had been stolen in the past three years in Italy.

"It is unfortunate and a detriment to one of the most famous Italian cheeses in the world," Coldiretti said.

A single wheel of cheese can sell for more than $500, and rural producers do not often have the resources to put security measures in place.

Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, human-interest, italy