00:00A $400,000 lobster heist is under investigation
00:04after a truck carrying thousands of live lobsters
00:06vanished on its way from Taunton, Massachusetts
00:08to Costco distribution centers in Illinois and Minnesota.
00:12The logistics company Rexing says the truck wasn't misplaced,
00:15it was hijacked and both the driver
00:17and the shipment disappeared without a trace.
00:19Now, because of the high value
00:21and unusual nature of the theft,
00:22the FBI and Homeland Security are now involved.
00:25And investigators believe this wasn't just a random grab,
00:28it matches a growing trend of organized cargo theft rings
00:30that target expensive goods moving through the supply chain.
00:33Cargo theft actually costs US businesses
00:35billions of dollars every year
00:37and federal officials have been trying to crack down on it
00:39through an effort called Operation Boiling Point,
00:42no pun intended.
00:42And what makes this case stand out is the product itself.
00:45Live lobsters are hard to hide, hard to store
00:47and hard to resell without specialized equipment.
00:49That kind of suggests that these thieves
00:51might have industry knowledge or access to facilities
00:54that can keep thousands of live animals alive.
00:57The loss has already had a financial impact on Rexing,
01:00forcing the company to freeze hiring
01:01and cancel employee bonuses.
01:03Costco stores in the Midwest also ended up short on product.
01:06So while the story sounds quirky, the impact is real.
01:09No suspects have been identified,
01:11no arrests have been made
01:12and none of the lobsters have been recovered.
01:14The biggest mystery remains how these thieves managed
01:16to steal and maintain a massive shipment of live seafood
01:20without leaving a trail.
01:21So who do you think is behind this fishy smelling whodunit?
01:24Let us know in the comments and follow us here for more.
Comments