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CONCORD, N.H. — Picture a lavish seafood spread gone awry.
In a surprising string of thefts across New England, thieves made off with a staggering 40,000 oysters, $400,000 worth of lobster, and a significant quantity of crabmeat in separate heists just weeks apart.
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The initial incident occurred on November 22 in Falmouth, Maine, where 14 cages brimming with oysters were taken from an aquaculture site in Casco Bay. These oysters, many mature and ready for market, alongside the cages, were valued at $20,000, as reported by the Maine Marine Patrol.
“This is a crippling blow to a small business owner,” remarked Marine Patrol Sgt. Matthew Sinclair.
The subsequent thefts unfolded in Taunton, Massachusetts, approximately 160 miles from the first location. On December 2, a shipment of crab vanished after departing from the Lineage Logistics warehouse. A few days later, on December 12, a fraudulent trucking operation absconded with lobster meat slated for Costco outlets in Illinois and Minnesota, as stated by the broker who organized the transport.
“The carrier we hired impersonated a real carrier,” Dylan Rexing, CEO of Rexing Companies, said Tuesday. “They had a spoofed email address. They changed the name on the side of the truck. The made a fake certified driver’s license. It’s a very sophisticated crime.”
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Lineage Logistics, Costco and Taunton Police did not respond to requests for comment, but Rexing said police told him about the crab theft from the same warehouse.
That kind of cargo theft has been a problem for over a decade, he said, but has gotten worse in recent years.
“It happens every day, multiple times a day,” he said.
Freight theft generally falls into two categories, said Chris Burroughs, president and CEO of Transportation Intermediaries Association, a trade organization for the freight brokerage industry. The lobster heist fits in the first type, which involves someone impersonating a legitimate trucking company. The second type, known as strategic theft, often involves using phishing emails to gain access to computer systems and get paid without actually stealing the product.
“This is a massive growing problem that needs to get addressed,” he said.
Given its short shelf life, the stolen lobster likely ended up restaurants, both said. And while he’s seen plenty of quips about stealing butter to go with the lobster, Rexing said such thefts ultimately harm consumers.
“Whether you eat seafood or not, they’re stealing other items. They’re stealing items to build your cars. They’re stealing items that go into computers,” he said. “Ultimately, that cost gets thrown to the consumer.”
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