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A $400,000 shipment of lobsters headed to Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota was hijacked before arriving at delivery points.
Dylan Rexing, CEO of Indiana-based logistics company Rexing Companies, said the shipment was picked up in Taunton, Massachusetts, but never reached its destination. WFLD reported. Rexing told the outlet that the heist appeared to be part of an organized ring of cargo thieves targeting high-end products.
“This is a major problem across the country,” Rexing told WFLD. “It directly impacts businesses and contributes to higher prices for consumers.”
The FBI investigates the theft of the lobster shipment. No arrests have been announced.
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Boiled lobsters lie on ice at Woodman’s on July 12, 2025. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Earlier this year, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was launched Operation Boiling point with the aim of tackling organized retail crime. In announcing the operation, HSI said estimates show cargo theft causes $15 billion to $35 billion in annual losses.
Josh Edgcombe, co-owner of SoPo Seafood, removes a lobster from the tank on Thursday, January 5, 2022. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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HSI said organized theft groups often target cargo at ports of entry, truck stops, freight trains and at various points along the supply chain while goods are in transit. Additionally, HSI noted that while organized theft groups that target freight are not necessarily involved in organized retail crime, “they may be associated with community fences/fenders who purchase the stolen goods.”
In September, the Department of Transportation issued a request for information seeking input from law enforcement, transportation agencies, trucking companies and other industry stakeholders, as well as the public, on how it can better protect the U.S. supply chain from cargo theft.
Corey Morris measures a lobster while lobstering off the coast of Tenants Harbor on Friday, June 24, 2016. The lobster was released. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“Cargo theft is a growing concern for the U.S. transportation system, costing the economy billions annually. These crimes include opportunistic ‘outright thefts’ of trailers, containers and loads at truck stops or multimodal distribution centers and highly coordinated operations conducted by organized criminal networks. Both categories cause significant economic losses, disrupt supply chains, and in some cases finance broader illicit activities such as narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting and human smuggling,” reads the DOT’s request summary.
