Poisoned peppers pilfered

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- Spanish thieves who made off with three tons of green peppers hoping to make a healthy profit, might instead get a bad case of indigestion: the vegetables are toxic.

A farmer in the southern region of Andalusia whose field was raided by the thieves warned the peppers had been treated with a pesticide whose effects will not wear off for at least another week.

"The peppers are not fit for consumption yet. It could be dangerous to eat them," said Sebastiana Soriano, a friend of the farmer.

He asked authorities to warn the public not to buy green peppers from roadside stalls as they may come from the toxic haul. The pesticide cannot be washed off.

Meanwhile, all is not lost for the thieves. They can feast on three tons of watermelon, plundered from the same farmer's land but free of any dangerous substance.