Shell Game: Thieves Make Off with $400,000 in Lobster Bound for Minnesota Costco Stores

(KNSI) — A shipment of lobster coming from Massachusetts to Minnesota never made it to its final destination, leading police to open an investigation into a potential heist.

The shipment, worth an estimated $400,000, vanished while in transit from a cold storage facility in Taunton, Massachusetts, to Costco locations here and in Illinois. Freight company Rexing Companies reported the missing meat after it left the warehouse on December 12th. The company believes the theft was organized crime involving a driver impersonating a legitimate carrier. The FBI is investigating, and it was the second seafood theft from the same warehouse this month.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has flagged the issue for law enforcement and freight carriers across the country. In a statement on its website, the DOT says, “Cargo theft is a growing concern for the U.S. transportation system, costing the economy billions annually. These crimes involve opportunistic ‘straight thefts’ of trailers, containers, and loads at truck stops or multimodal distribution hubs and highly coordinated operations conducted by organized criminal networks. Both categories create significant economic losses, disrupt supply chains, and in some cases fund broader illicit activities such as narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting, and human smuggling.

“[The] DOT seeks information from state, metropolitan, and local agencies; law enforcement; industry; stakeholders (e.g., carriers, shippers, drivers, warehouse operators (including at airports), insurers); and the public to aid in the development of strategies and potential programs to reduce cargo theft, strengthen supply chain security, and create a safe operating environment for freight stakeholders and the traveling public.”

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