Crime

Truck carrying $400K in lobster stolen after it left Taunton facility

CEO of supply chain company says shipment vanished while en route to Costco stores.

Cooked lobsters sit on ice at Woodman's in Essex. Erin Clark/Globe Staff

December 30, 2025

2 minutes to read

A truck carrying more than $400,000 worth of lobster meat vanished somewhere between a Taunton warehouse and its Midwest Costco destinations, according to the Indiana-based freight company responsible for the shipment.

Dylan Rexing, president and CEO of Rexing Companies, confirmed that the alleged heist of the lobsters, which were not alive, was bound for Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota.

In a statement to Boston.com, Rexing said he believes the driver impersonated a legitimate carrier and stole the seafood.

“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.”

Rexing said that for a mid-sized brokerage, like his, a $400,000 loss is significant.

“It forces tough decisions and ultimately drives up costs across the supply chain — costs consumers ultimately end up paying,” he said in the statement.

Rexing said his company is working closely with the FBI and the Transportation Intermediaries Association, which coordinates information sharing and advocates for stronger safeguards to combat cargo theft nationwide.

“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,” Rexing said. “Until that happens, these thefts will continue to disrupt businesses and impact everyday prices.”

Cargo theft on the rise

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched Operation Boiling Point in 2022 amid a surge in organized retail and cargo theft nationwide. The agency estimates that cargo theft now costs the U.S. economy $15–35 billion annually.

Officials say theft rings target goods in transit — at ports, truck stops, rail yards, and along supply routes — often using fraudulent pickups or forged documents. High-value items like pharmaceuticals, electronics, clothing, food, and alcohol are among the most frequently stolen.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has also taken notice. In September, it sought input from state and local agencies on ways to strengthen supply-chain security, saying cargo theft “costs the economy billions annually” and ranges from opportunistic trailer thefts to “highly coordinated operations conducted by organized criminal networks.”

Such crimes, the agency added, can even help fund narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting, and human smuggling.