John Jefferson
Thieves stole a trailer tractor with 500,000 pounds of shrimp inside, cops say. (Middlesex police).
A thief came up with quite the catch in a brazen theft in New Jersey.
According to the Middlesex Police Department, a truck driver reported his shipment of some 500,000 frozen shrimp worth about $305,000 stolen around 4 a.m. on Sept. 5. The shipment was reportedly headed to a Costco store in Monroe Township.
The driver told police he had rented a parking space on Smalley Avenue, but when he went to make the delivery, the 25,000-pound shipment and the $50,000 tractor-trailer were nowhere to be found.
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Philadelphia NBC affiliate WCAU interviewed the truck driver, who declined to be identified.
“When I came into the yard I don’t see my truck,” he said. “I don’t understand what happened. Where’s my truck?”
Detectives also determined that four other shipping containers at the warehouse had been broken into but nothing was taken.
Cops eventually found the shrimp shipment about 16 miles away in Perth Amboy, Seafood Source trade publication reported. It’s not clear if the theft was targeted to steal the shrimp or something else. No more information was released.
“It’s definitely unusual,” Middlesex police Det. Sgt. Sean Flanagan told WCAU. “We haven’t had something like this in Middlesex Borough before.”
While the incident may be humorous to some, it was no laughing matter to the truck driver who depends on the shipments to make a living.
“It’s only me and my truck, now I don’t have a job for a week,” he said. “I’ve tried to make applications, I need to keep waiting.”
Cops have yet to make an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call Middlesex police at 732-356-1900.
Oddly enough, there’s been an uptick in seafood-related thefts this year, including thefts of crabmeat on Sept. 4 and tuna on Aug. 8 in Philadelphia, Seafood Source reported.
“In the first quarter of 2024, criminal activities impacting the logistics and transportation industry reached new highs, even amid the sustained crime wave that began in late 2022. CargoNet documented a staggering 925 incidents, marking a substantial 46 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2023 and a concerning 10 percent rise from the fourth quarter of 2023,” CargoNet said, according to the outlet.
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