Particle.news
Download on the App Store

FBI Probes $400,000 Costco-Bound Lobster Cargo Theft Tied to Carrier Impersonation

Rexing Companies says a driver posing as a legitimate carrier took the load after pickup in Taunton, prompting calls for stronger federal tools.

Overview

  • The shipment was loaded at the Lineage Logistics cold storage facility in Taunton on Dec. 12 and never reached Costco warehouses in Illinois and Minnesota.
  • The FBI is investigating the disappearance with coordination reported among Midwest field offices, and no suspects have been publicly identified.
  • Rexing Companies reports tactics consistent with organized cargo crime, including spoofed emails, fake credentials, and burner phones to impersonate carriers.
  • Accounts differ on whether the lobsters were live, with NBC and Sky News reporting they were not; Costco has not responded to requests for comment.
  • Rexing says the $400,000 loss is significant for a mid-sized broker, and the Boston Globe reports a separate crab shipment was stolen from the same Taunton facility earlier in December.