A $400,000 shipment of lobster bound for Costco stores vanished in transit after thieves allegedly impersonated a legitimate trucking company, the head of an Indiana-based logistics firm said.
Dylan Rexing, president and chief executive of Rexing Companies, said the non-live lobsters were being shipped from Massachusetts to Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota when the load was hijacked around December 12.
“This theft wasn’t random,” Rexing said, per NBC News. “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.”
The shipment originated in Taunton, Massachusetts, but never arrived, Rexing told reporters. He said a driver provided fake credentials and turned off GPS tracking shortly after pickup.
“For a mid-sized brokerage like ours, a $400,000 loss is significant,” he added. “It forces tough decisions and ultimately drives up costs across the supply chain — costs consumers ultimately end up paying.”
Rexing noted authorities informed him of a similar crab theft from the same facility days earlier, suggesting involvement by an organized ring.
“$400,000 is a lot of people we can hire, so it’s a little heartbreaking — our business overall we have 100 employees — so it’s a large pill to swallow for us,” he said in an interview with Fox 32.
The FBI is investigating the case.
“Brokers are on the front lines of this problem, but we need federal agencies to have modern enforcement tools to keep pace with organized criminal networks,” Rexing said, the New York Post reported. “Until that happens, these thefts will continue to disrupt businesses and impact everyday prices.”
