The 9 Weirdest and Craziest Crimes and Heists of 2018From New Zealand's avocado crime wave to a $98,000 ramen noodle heist -- check out these crazy crimes.

ByRose Leadem

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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The news can already seem crazy, but this year also saw a number of odd crimes, such as a New Zealand avocado crime wave or a $98,000 ramen noodle heist.

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Criminals around the world have stolen beehives, allegedly poisoned co-workers and sold avocados on the black market. Here are some of the weirdest and craziest crimes and heists of 2018.

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一名男子涉嫌毒药他同事的午餐。

Earlier this summer, a man in Germany by the name "Klaus O." wasaccused of murdering21 of his co-workers by poisoning their lunches. After one of the suspect's colleagues found white powder in his sandwich and reported this to his manager, the company caught Klaus on-camera going through his co-workers' lunches and sprinkling a mysterious substance on their food. After searching Klaus's belongings, authorities found toxic chemicals including mercury, quicksilver and lead, which matched the substances found on the food. Twenty-one of Klaus's former colleagues have died due to mysterious circumstances since 2000.

The Swedish crown jewels were stolen by thieves on a motorboat.

While it sounds like something out of a movie, earlier this year,thieves successfullystole precious crown jewels from the Str?ngn?s Cathedral that belonged to Sweden's Karl VI and his wife Queen Kristina. The thieves escaped on a motorboat that was parked just below the church. Authorities have yet to find the jewels or the thieves.
Thai Yuan Lim | EyeEm | Getty Images

New Zealand has been battling an avocado crime wave.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. As a result of a two-yearavocado shortagein New Zealand, which has caused prices for the green fruit to surge, thieves are stealing avocados from orchards in the middle of the night and selling them on the black market. To protect their precious fruits, some farmers are taking matters into their own hands by adding razor-wire fences around their trees.

Related:Crime-as-a-Service Could Be the Next Big Threat to Your Business

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About $98,000 worth of ramen noodles were stolen.

Forget diamonds, money or cars -- these thieves have stolen the college dorm room classic ...ramen noodles.但这是没有犯罪,不足一美元$98,000worth of ramen was stolen. In Fayette County, Ga., robbers stole packaged ramen noodles from a trailer park off of the highway. While the question remainswhythieves stole so many noodles, which equate to nearly 300,000 packets, the other question that lingers is: why were they there in the first place?
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A man holds his cousin at gunpoint for stealing his cheese grater.

Confronting a family member is never easy, but this may have been taking it too far. Aften Mason Tackett of Floyd County, Ky., caught his cousinstealing his cheese grater, an empty bottle of Lysol and some soap from his home, Tackett allegedly held Hagens at gunpoint while he called the cops.
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A woman was arrested for running an illegal botox clinic.

Typically, a plastic surgeon or dermatologist is the best person to go to for a medical procedure such as Botox. But apparently some people prefer a DIY approach. Diane D'Anca of Bradenton, Fla., was arrested earlier this year for allegedlygiving patients Botoxtreatments in her home without a proper license. After receiving a local tip, police investigated D'Anca's home to find a back bedroom that was converted into a medical office, which held a large amount of counterfeit, non-FDA regulated Botox as well as a book of more than 100 patients dating back to 2011.

Related:7 Ways to Relieve Boredom by Hustling for Extra Cash

Tim Boyle | Getty Images

Two elderly men fought over free samples at Costco.

过yone knows that the highlight of a Costco trip is always the free samples. Recently, two men got a little too worked up over the free food. In South Carolina, police were called to a Costco store after two elderly men startedswinging fists in the sample line.While a 70-year-old Costco customer patiently waited his turn in line for a free slice of cheese, a 72-year-old man in a Hawaiian shirt strutted in front of him and stole his sample. Shortly after, while in line for a cheeseburger sample, the Hawaiian shirt-clad man did it again -- cutting in front of the same man and stealing his piece of meat. Instead of brushing it off, angry words were exchanged, fists were thrown and the cops were called.
Luca Mazzotti | EyeEm | Getty Images

There was a string of beehive heists.

Amazingly, bee theft is quite common in the apiary industry. Last year, authorities busted a man namedPavel Tveretinovfor allegedly stealing more than 2,500 beehives, worth more than $875,000, from orchards throughout California. Tveretinov was likely renting out beehives for cash to various farms to help pollinate their crops. This year, there's been aspike in bee theftsin Belgium, and near the Flemish town of Tessenderlo a whopping 150,000 bees from hives were recently stolen.
shikheigoh | Getty Images

The was an insect and lizard heist valued at $40,000.

Insect theft goes beyond bees. Recently, thieves stole$40,000worth of insects and reptiles from the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion. More than 7,000 insects and reptiles were taken, which make up 80 to 90 percent of the Insectarium's population. Police suspect it was an inside job because the thieves also left blue staff uniforms hung by knives stabbed against one of the office's walls.
Wavy Line
Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com.

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