A man in Britain admitted to stealing nearly 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs, in what the local police described as an “eggs-travagent” theft.
The caper involved breaking into an industrial unit in Telford, outside Birmingham, on Saturday and making off with about $37,000 worth of the eggs, the police in West Mercia said in a statement on Twitter that was riddled with attempted jokes about Easter.
“West Mercia Police has helped save Easter for Creme Egg fans,” the police said.
The man, Joby Pool, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of criminal damage and theft, and will be sentenced on March 14, the police said.
The episode will not deprive anyone of the ultrasweet treat, a chocolate shell filled with a white-and-yellow fondant, that is available from January to April. Mr. Pool’s lawyer, John McMillan, said in court that the eggs had not been tampered with and could still be sold in stores, according to The Guardian.
Officials said the theft was premeditated — one that involved chocolate eggs that are more typically treated as an impulse buy at the grocery store. The prosecutor, Owen Beale, told Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court that Mr. Pool had used a stolen truck cab to tow away a trailer full of the treats, according to The Guardian. The police soon spotted him on the road, and he gave himself up, Mr. Beale said.
“This is clearly an organized criminal matter,” he said in court. “You don’t just happen to learn about a trailer with that kind of value being available.”
The eggs, which are made by Cadbury in Britain and by Hershey in the United States, were created in 1963 and were initially known as Fry’s Creme Eggs.
For the uninitiated, though the filling is colored to resemble an egg yolk, it is a sugar bomb. Long associated with Easter, the eggs are available in grocery stores as individually wrapped treats or in larger packs.
