'Theft Ring' Nets $400,000 Worth of Live Lobsters
Freight Brokerage Says FBI Is Looking at Massachusetts Shipping Facility
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AMassachusettsshipping facility is reportedly at the center of a federal investigation into an alleged heist of a $400,000 shipment of live lobster bound for Costco locations inMinnesotaandChicago.
That’s according to the CEO of anIndiana-based freight brokerage company managing the shipment from a facility inTauntonto Costco stores in the Midwest.
Dylan Rexing, who heads The Rexing Cos., has said that nine truckloads of products were stolen within five days earlier this month.
In an interview with Fox 32 Chicago last week, Rexing said the FBI is investigating the case, with the investigation being in its “early” stages.
The shipment was reportedly picked up in Massachusetts but never reached its destinations — FOX 32 News (@fox32news)
“It is pretty safe to say that this is a theft ring of some sort,” Rexing said. “I’m not sure exactly who is involved, but yeah, it is a big problem. I’m not so sure that it’s necessarily an inside job, at least in our office or inside the shipping location where it’s shipped from.”
READ MORE:FBI, TIA Expand Information Sharing on Cargo Theft
“But I was aware that this particular load was being picked up inTaunton, Mass.,” the CEO added, “and it was headed toMinnesotaandChicago, different club locations.”
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“$400,000 is a lot of people we could hire, so it’s a little heartbreaking,” Rexing said in his interview with theChicagonews outlet. “Our business, overall, we have over 100 employees, so it’s a large pill to swallow for us.”
The federal ýland Security Investigations launched an initiative earlier this year, dubbed “Operation Boiling Point,” that looks to take down organized theft groups targeting cargo and retail supply chains.
Federal authorities have said thefts cost the economy $15 to $35 billion annually.
“This is not a mom-and-pop organization,” Rexing said. “These folks are out there looking for products that you buy in the store, and they’re looking for easy targets, higher value goods, easily moved. We need our government organizations to do more.”
