Tourists investigated for stealing 35 kg of food from hotel buffet

By Hoang Vu August 8, 2023 | 06:27 pm PT

Staff members place pre-cooked dishes for takeaway or delivery into containers in the kitchen at a restaurant in Beijing, China, January 31, 2022. Photo by Reuters

A group of Russian tourists are being investigated on allegations of stealing 35 kg of food from buffet tables at a hotel in Turkey’s Antalya and hiding them in their room.

The incident came to light when the tourists planned to leave the hotel with the amount of stolen food, news site DIP reported.

The group managed to hide dried fruits, several kilograms of apples, snacks, sweets, carbonated drinks, a bunch of sugar, tea bags and other products in their suitcases.

They also took away butter from the restaurant, wrapping it in foil.

They were eventually stopped by hotel employees while preparing to leave the hotel.

Video footage that went viral on social media last weekend showed the hotel employees pouring huge packages of food onto a bed.

Police are working with the hotel to investigate.

At most buffet restaurants, diners are allowed to eat as much as they want while sitting inside the restaurant, but not to bring food out. Many places also apply a policy of penalizing those who intentionally bring food out of the restaurant.

In May, a diner had to pay 45,000 yuan (around US$6,500) to a buffet restaurant in China’s Guizhou after getting caught stuffing expensive dishes into her bags to sneak home.