Food Network host Guy Fieri is friends with Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, and the two pals started a tequila brand together in 2019 called Santo Tequila. The tequila is crafted in Western Mexico, comes into the US through Texas, and is then trucked to Santo’s Pennsylvania warehouse. All of the transportation is done through a third party, which has worked for the company for years… until last November, when two semitrucks carrying 24,000 bottles of tequila went missing. It fell to Santo’s CEO Dan Butkus to inform Fieri that there was bupkis to show for the expected delivery of a three-years-in-the-making spirit that had already been publicized and was worth over $1 million. Regrettably, this kind of thievery is exponentially on the rise in the trucking industry. Luckily, that meant there was a specialist for Santo Tequila to call, and the story of how that specialist unraveled the case — it was a fake shipping company! — was on the latest 60 Minutes:
What happened: The logistics company that worked for Santo hired a trucking company. But then that trucking company outsourced the job to two other trucking companies, who then hired drivers. It’s a bit of a tractor trailer shell game called double brokering, and it happens more often than you might expect. The problem is those second trucking companies were fakes — fronts for criminals — complete with phony letterheads, email addresses and phone numbers to appear legitimate. Those emails about the mechanical issues, the video of a broken down semi and the GPS tracking were all fake, too. It was all part of an elaborate ruse, set up to buy time and steal the cargo.
Time to call Keith: [Keith] Lewis is a former cop who runs operations for Verisk CargoNet, a company that works with law enforcement to solve these types of crimes. According to Lewis, U.S. businesses lost more than $230 million in goods last year to cargo theft. … Lewis began to piece together how the tequila heist was pulled off: criminals created fake online profiles of trucking companies, bid on jobs they suspected might be valuable and hired unsuspecting drivers online. Then, instead of sending the drivers to the Santo warehouse in Pennsylvania, the criminals remotely redirected them to take the shipment west — all the way to Los Angeles. Though it might seem suspicious, Lewis said the drivers had no idea they were being directed by criminals. They believed they were taking a legitimate load to a legitimate location.
Online global crime: Lewis says the tequila heist was orchestrated entirely online, which made finding the mastermind behind the operation tough because there was no suspect description or fingerprints to follow. In fact, the masterminds don’t even need to be in the same country. “We’ve tracked them to over 40 different countries around the world,” Lewis said. Investigators say the tequila theft had all the characteristics of a criminal gang that operates out of Armenia, 7,000 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border where the tequila was last seen. This kind of theft, where criminals remotely redirect cargo to steal it, has spiked 1,200% in four years, according to Lewis.
California has more goods stolen from trucks than any other state: In response, the Los Angeles Police Department created a special unit to tackle all kinds of cargo theft and last year recovered $42.8 million worth of stolen goods. … The LAPD Cargo Theft Unit eventually cracked the case of the missing tequila. Detectives tracked down one of the drivers who’d picked up the tequila in Texas. He’d moved on to other jobs, but told investigators that he was directed by what he thought was a legitimate trucking company to leave the shipment at an industrial site in the San Fernando Valley. His information ultimately led police to a warehouse in southeast Los Angeles, and 11,000 bottles of Santo Tequila, just a few weeks after the heist.
Not only was about half the inventory recovered, it was also inspected and deemed completely all right for sale/distribution. That’s unbelievable. When I think of the 2,500 savory Christmas pies or, gulp, the 22 tons of artisanal cheddar cheese that have vanished without a trace in England… I just hope Fieri, Hagar, and Butkus (especially Butkus) count their blessings! No (truckload of) food left behind! Honestly, though, I’m not crying any tears for Fieri, just for the lost specialty foods of this world. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a legitimately great idea for a show, I’ll grant him that. But as far as I’m concerned he’s the worm in this shot of tequila (well, technically moth larvae in mezcal, but you get the point). It’s not that I condone crime (unlike those who shake hands with a convicted felon); I just don’t mind karma scoring a win sometimes.
Yeah, Fieri is kind of a cheeseball. It’s his brand.
That said he has donated hot meals to wildfire firefighters, setting up food trucks.
He doesn’t deserve to have his booze stolen!
Yes, he is well known for multiple charitable efforts, espesh supporting restaurant workers during the pandemic. I’m not mad at him and glad he got some of his booze back!
I love investigation stories like this! The effort people put into theft is just crazy. Seems like it would be easier and less of a gamble to just…I don’t know…work…
Just think if they put even half of that effort into doing something good.
Karma…?! Did I miss something? What has Guy done to merit Kismet’s wrath? He’s one of the most generous celebrities in the business, always looking out for restaurant workers and first responders, kids with intellectual disabilities, Make-A-Wish families… the tone of this article is puzzling. Glad they got half the bottles back.
He seemed very happy after trump won and said something about the country getting back to doing what it does best. And he’s more than willing to be seen with the man, shaking his hand. i think it is a thinly veiled secret that he’s pro-republicant at the very least but most likely pro-trump as well.
He’s not my cup of tea, but Guy Fieri was one of the first to come to Malibu with help after the fires last January literally leveled the eastern half of the town. He set up a kitchen at the command station in a parking lot next to the library and his crew fed the firefighters and other first responders for weeks. (and omg did it smell delicious.) The fire trucks came from towns all over the west, and even Mexico, to help. And the fires here were so big and dangerous and destructive, a lot of the first responders were traumatized by what they had seen and worked through. So now that’s my first thought about Guy, that outdoor kitchen feeding the people who risked their lives to help strangers.
Agreed he’s a cheeseball, and also agree that he has done amazing charitable work. I believe he was also the officiant in his sister’s wedding and is supportive of gay rights.
His partner in this tequila business is Sammy Hagar, who may or may not have MAGA leanings. He even though he has never endorsed a candidate, and avoids talking publicly about politics, he has said some MAGAy things in the past on social media and posted a video tribute for Charlie Kirk.
Some time before the election, Fieri posted about what an honor it was to meet Trump at a big wrestling match. Can’t remember if it was pic or video of them shaking hands and smiling ringside. That was it for me after the glimpses I’d noticed in the past. He’s a MAGAt.
I saw an in depth story about this on one of the news shows this weekend. Crazy!
The LAPD has a space that looks like a Costco warehouse full of stolen goods that they have rescued and they are waiting for the owners to come and pick up. Cases and cases of beer, Subzero appliances, high end televisions, sneakers, designer purses and clothing. You name it they have it. And that is just LA. It’s happening all over the country.