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Man Suspected of Stealing 18 Tons of Chocolate to Pay off Debt, Russian Police Say

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A delivery truck driver has been charged with stealing 18 tons of chocolate in the city of Saransk to pay off a debt, a police spokesperson said on Friday.

In a statement posted on the Interior Ministry’s website titled “The case smells like chocolate,” police spokeswoman Irina Wolf said that a 54-year-old delivery truck driver had been charged with theft for taking off with the chocolate — valued at 2.5 million rubles ($38,000) — from a local car park in Saransk in August 2016.

The police statement said that the suspect had stolen the chocolate with the aim of paying off previously-accrued debts.

In 2014, three suspects reportedly stole two truckloads of chocolate worth $375,000 from a confectionery east of Moscow. 

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