A young boy has been arrested in New South Wales, Australia after he admitted to inserting sewing needles in strawberries as police continue to investigate at least 20 other instances of food tampering across the state in a crisis that has rocked the country’s agriculture sector.

Last week, the first reports of needles hidden inside of strawberries emerged in New South Wales. According to the NSW Police Force, the contaminated fruit came from Queensland and affected three brands – “Berry Obsession,” “Berry Licious,” and “Donnybrook” – which were then distributed across the country. The brands have since been recalled by Queensland Health.

There have been dozens of other reports of tampered fruit across Australia over the last week, but many of those are believed to be hoaxes.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, NSW police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith told reporters that the young boy said he put the needles in the berries as a “prank.” He said the boy would be “dealt with under the youth cautioning system.”

The acting assistant commissioner said police still believe the other cases of needles found in strawberries are the work of copycats and pranksters. He said there is a AUD$100,000 (CAD$93,943) reward in New South Wales for information leading to the prosecution of any individual responsible for tampering a food source.

On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced, during a press conference in Canberra, that his government would be introducing tougher penalties for those found guilty of deliberately contaminating food or producing hoaxes or fake posts online about tampered food.

The prime minister is seeking to increase the maximum prison time from 10 to 15 years for food contamination offenders. Those who engage in hoaxes on the topic could face up to 10 years in prison.

“Some idiot for his reasons, or her reasons, has engaged in an act of sabotage it would seem,” he said. “We can’t put up with it. The authorities are pursuing this matter with full vigour.”

Morrison encouraged shoppers to continue to support Australian farmers and purchase strawberries. He advised residents to cut into their fruit before biting into it as an extra precaution.

NSW police said they have received reports of contamination of other types of fruit, including a banana and an apple, but they said they are being treated as isolated incidents.

There have been no reports of any injuries connected to the reports of needles in fruit.