A shipment of USD 400,000 (EUR 341,100) worth of lobsters destined for Costco stores across Illinois and Minnesota never arrived at its destination, with the owner of the shipping company claiming an organized crime ring likely stole the shellfish.
“I would tell you it’s pretty safe to say this is a theft ring of some sort, I’m not sure who exactly is involved,” Rexing Companies CEO Dylan Rexing told ChicagoLIVE. “But it’s a big problem. I’m not so sure that it’s necessarily an inside job, at least inside our office or inside the shipping location where it’s shipped from.”
The lobsters were apparently picked up from a facility in Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.A. on 12 December. However, the USD 400,000 worth of product never made it to the Costco stores. Rexing said he was made aware of a similar seafood theft from the same Taunton facility earlier in the month; ABC News reported that a load of crab went missing after being picked up from a Lineage Logistics warehouse on 2 December.
According to Rexing, the lobster thefts are part of a much bigger problem, with nine truckloads of products stolen over the course of five days.
“This theft wasn’t random,” Rexing said. “It followed a pattern we’re seeing more and more, where criminals impersonate legitimate carriers using spoofed emails and burner phones to hijack high-value freight while it’s in transit.”
Rexing said he is working with a trade association and the Federal Bureau of Investigations on the issue.
“Frankly, the lobster is gone. I know that,” Rexing said. “This is a huge issue across the country. It directly impacts businesses and contributes to higher prices for consumers.”
