Someone’s going to need a ton of melted butter.
A whopping $400,000 shipment of lobster was stolen as it was headed for Costco stores, according to the freight company’s president.
Dylan Rexing, the president and chief executive of supply chain company Rexing Companies, said in a statement that he believes the driver was impersonating a legitimate carrier and stole the seafood. The lobsters, which were not alive, were on their way to Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota, he said.
“This theft wasn’t random,” Rexing said. “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.”
“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.”
Costco did not immediately return a request for comment.
“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,” he said. “Until that happens, these thefts will continue to disrupt businesses and impact everyday prices.”
