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Guy Fieri stands on stage in February at his Flavortown Tailgate in New Orleans, with a bottle of Santo Tequila and cigar in hand. (Amy Harris/Invision/Associated Press)

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Two truckloads of — a brand co-owned by Food Network host Guy Fieri and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar — disappeared somewhere between Texas and Pennsylvania late last year after impostor carriers obtained the job through an online freight scam, according to “60 Minutes.”

"How do you lose, you know, that many thousands of bottles of tequila?" . He said that if a theft like this can happen to his company, “then everybody’s vulnerable.”

The stolen shipment, valued at more than $1 million, is now a high-profile example of how digital fraud is reshaping cargo theft. Investigators told “60 Minutes” the thieves used forged carrier identities and spoofed GPS data to make the load appear in transit while redirecting it across the country.

The scheme — known in the freight industry as double brokering — has become a costly operational hazard for carriers and brokers nationwide.

The shipment of 24,000 bottles disappeared after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Laredo, Texas, “60 Minutes” reported Oct. 5. It was bound for a Santo Spirits warehouse in Lansdale, Pa., but never arrived.

Fake Carriers, Forged Paperwork and Spoofed GPS

Santo Spirits CEO Dan Butkus told “60 Minutes” that the company’s logistics partner hired a carrier that re-brokered the job to another firm, which turned out to be fictitious. The impostor carrier used forged documents, phony email accounts and fake phone numbers to appear legitimate, he said. Thieves sent video of a supposed breakdown and routine delay updates to mask the fraud.

The GPS data itself was manipulated. Butkus said the signal was “spoofed or emulated,” so the shipment appeared on tracking systems to be near Washington, D.C., before supposedly closing in on the Pennsylvania facility. The tequila, in fact, had been rerouted west.

Investigators interviewed by “60 Minutes” said the drivers who picked up the loads were legitimate and unaware of the deception. They were reportedly redirected by criminals to deliver the trailers to Los Angeles, where the cargo vanished. Three weeks later, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Cargo Theft Unit recovered about 11,000 bottles in a Southeast L.A. warehouse. The second truck and its cargo remain missing.

(60 Minutes via YouTube)

The tequila case is a vivid illustration of how cyber-enabled freight crime has evolved from parking-lot pilfering to remote manipulation of digital systems. CargoNet operations chief Keith Lewis told 60 Minutes that online diversion thefts have surged 1,200% in the past four years.

“It happens multiple times a day,” he said, noting that the cost of such losses “100% falls back on the consumer.”

The “60 Minutes” report noted that investigators linked the Santo theft to a transnational gang operating out of Armenia, reflecting the global reach of organized cargo theft networks now targeting U.S. supply chains.

ATA: Cargo Theft Costs Economy $35 Billion a Year

American Trucking Associations estimates cargo theft , with an average loss exceeding $200,000 per incident. ATA says thefts have risen 1,500% since early 2021, driven in part by fraudulent carrier activity and weak enforcement.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking input from trucking stakeholders on strategies to deter cargo crime, including improved carrier verification, information sharing and theft reporting. In a Sept. 19 Federal Register notice, DOT said organized theft rings are exploiting “highly coordinated operations” that use identity fraud, cyber intrusion and staged diversions to infiltrate freight networks.

Generative AI assisted in the creation of this article.

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