Food Heists: Me So Hungry

Transcript

Welcome Back and Weather Talk

Speaker 1 0:00

Oh boy , all right , hey , hey long time , no talk on the podcast .

Speaker 2 0:07

my friend , how are you doing ?

Speaker 1 0:09

I can't complain . The sun is shining . Basically it was mostly Siberian weather here in merry old Billings , montana , since we last discussed Mr Bourdain , but it has a balmy like 45 degrees .

Speaker 2 0:23

Nice , yeah , we're creeping into spring here ourselves . I mean , hopefully , get this out quickly , everybody . You're going to have to spring your clocks forward this Sunday . Not to date everything too much , but I guess I don't really give a fuck . Nonetheless , you know , something that I was thinking of is the Blue Dog Boogie . You know Boogie's Bodega located in Billings , montana , on First Avenue North . Okay , guys , we're Owen . The McMcMichael has his own little business there where you can pick up a lot of cheese and stuff , right , but anyway , Boogie Indeed .

Speaker 2 0:56

Yeah , you know he's done . You know he's done . The heist , the little food , just you know a food heist here and there . Snatch something if it's left out .

Speaker 1 1:08

Yeah , his main tactic is just straight up extortion , but if that does not work then he will straight up heist it . He's a tricky one for being a 90 pound land seal .

Speaker 2 1:21

Jeez , these pit bulls guys . They're up to nefarious acts , Sorry . Well , these pit bulls guys .

Speaker 1 1:27

They're up the nefarious axe , Sorry . Well , let me though , for the record , say that he was not the one responsible for the 100,000 eggs 400,000 eggs stolen in Pennsylvania , right , Holy shit yeah .

Speaker 2 1:37

Yeah , I forgot about that .

Speaker 1 1:38

Oh no , no , I'm sorry . 40,000 worth 100 grand . I forget , I don't have the notes , but still Boogie's not responsible for that , as we've never been to Pennsylvania .

Speaker 2 1:47

No doubt . Yeah , that was a recent heist . I wish I would have kept that up . Professionalism , Owen , we're on top of things . You know , if it was $100,000 worth of eggs when I read the article about a month ago , they're probably worth about $200,000 at this point month ago . They're probably worth , you know , about $200 at this point .

Speaker 1 2:06

I would assume they just give you the Taj Mahal for the eggs . Yeah , it sounds about right Where'd you get that ? Oh , we gave them some eggs .

Speaker 2 2:13

Yeah , just shipped it on over , right ? Well , you know it's unfortunate we can't get them from Canada Anyway . So yeah , the Australian salmon heist was almost comparable to this egg thing , except for it was quite a bit bigger , a little bit slower moving , not like a , you know , jacking a truck or anything . It sounds interesting . I'm up here in the PNW salmon very near and dear to our hearts up here , guys . Okay , what happened was five employees at a fish processing plant orchestrated

The Great Egg Heist

Speaker 2 2:43

an inside job to steal massive quantities of premium salmon , Not just , like you're running the mill , canned salmon , owen Premium salmon . They misclassified the fish as waste , right ? So , like they're , you know it was bad fish . So they were throwing it away and it was allowing them to remove it from the facility without raising suspicion . Okay , I'm going to hit you with some numbers here , some facts I don't even know . 250 tons of salmon is what they stole , worth approximately $1.4 million . It was taken over several months . That's a lot of fish , man . That is a lot . That is a lot of fish .

Speaker 1 3:18

Yeah , I mean , that

Australian Salmon Theft Operation

Speaker 1 3:20

seems like a good deal , salmon's not cheap . No , it's not . Is seems like a good deal , salmon's not cheap no it's not .

Speaker 2 3:26

Is that street prices ? I know it's like when they buzz somebody for like a half ounce of weed on the news and they don't do that anymore , but they used to . They'd be like street value , $20,000 . It's like who the fuck are you getting your weed from ?

Speaker 1 3:40

That was like on the show Weeds , where she's like supporting a family in the suburbs selling an ounce a week , and I was like , wow , I want those victims Not that it has anything to do with any activities such as that Not anymore .

Speaker 2 3:53

Not these days , Not anymore Correct . Yeah , so you know you may be wondering how they got caught . The fraud was eventually uncovered , leading to the rest of all five employees . You know I'm sure they just sniffed around . They're like dang , this is a lot of wasted fish . Guys like what's going on ? Probably check some stuff to see if machines were working correctly when they were descaling it or whatever they may have been doing . I don't know . But you know they probably went through some processes and , uh , they figured it out . Investigators did believe that the stolen fish was resold through illegal distribution networks . I'm assuming , like you know , if they're in Australia , they're probably selling the salmon to like Asia or something you know , at a cheaper price , You're selling it to American tourists .

Speaker 2 4:38

Would you like some bad salmon ?

Speaker 1 4:42

Cut it in your coat . It's like the old 80s drug dealer commercials where you just open your coat and have all the drugs . It's like the old 80's drug dealer commercials where you just open your coat and have all the drugs and it's like , yeah , I got some salmon .

Speaker 2 4:51

Something smells fishy here , owen , I don't even know . I know , hey , I am a dad , thus the dad jokes my friends out there in podcast land . It is very good to be back on this glorious day where we're talking about food heists . This is great , my friend . Do you got one for me ?

Speaker 1 5:11

I do Also an inside job , they believe , and I don't think that the olive oil heist culprits were ever apprehended . Let me check on that real quick , ever . Let me check on that real quick . But yeah , 18 truckloads of olive oil worth $2.5 million was stolen from an award-winning Texas company . Whoa , I don't think of Texas doesn't immediately jump to mind . I wonder if they grow olives in Texas . I mean , I guess , the climate .

Speaker 2 5:45

Right , I'm looking it up , google , I guess . The climate ? Right

Olive Oil and Maple Syrup Heists

Speaker 2 5:48

, I'm looking it up , google , guys , google , let's see . Yeah , apparently they do what . Oh yeah , they're making olive oil there . Right , Just checking , guys , just checking Fact . Checking our own talk right now , live on this podcast that will air at a later date .

Speaker 1 6:03

Checking our own talk right now , live on this podcast that will air at a later date and that was one of the larger total values . Speaking of Canada , I imagine you did see what , as far as I can tell , is the largest food heist in terms of monetary value Between 2011 and 2012, . Contents were emptied of maple syrup barrels , they were replaced with water , and Canada's beloved maple syrup that was stolen was worth $18.7 million back then . Holy shit . So we're well into the 25-ish range , I would think .

Speaker 2 6:47

Yeah , wasn't it a bunch of old ladies that did that , or something like that ? The Great Maple Syrup Heist ? There was something to that , owen , I just can't remember .

Speaker 1 6:54

Yeah , I don't know what I was reading off of is like , and we won't cover all of them , just some of our favorites . Uh right , spicy chefs , and it was the article and they're just very brief mentions of each of these , which I love . Heist , that's like . You know . Price was art like gems ? Like no , yeah , we stole some eggs , right ice is a great guy .

Speaker 2 7:20

I know an egg guy . I know an egg guy . He's got a big head . Yeah , so yeah , 18.7 million . Damn sorry , bro , Go ahead , I'm just this maple syrup thing's got me .

Speaker 1 7:33

No , that's like that just dwarfs any of the other heists . But this is an interesting one . 40,000 pounds of allegedly gourmet meat was stolen from a truck yard in Hamilton , ontario . The apparent value is 100 grand , so by my math that's $2.50 a pound . Where is that ?

Speaker 2 7:56

gourmet . I don't know , that's insane .

Speaker 1 8:00

Okay , I have some beef with this one .

Speaker 2 8:04

Keep them coming , bro . Yeah , dad , jokes galore over here .

Speaker 1 8:08

Yeah , they never , ever . Yeah , the thieves were not cautious with beef . Oh wow , because the cops still have beef with the thieves ?

Speaker 2 8:19

Yes , I'm sure they do . That's amazing , jeez . You know you think about these , this , these food heists and , uh , the fact that this shit's gonna spoil . So it's quite a bit more elaborate to an extent than if you were to like steal diamonds or something like that . I mean , I know there's other complications with reselling things of that nature , but at least you could sit on it for a while . You know what I'm saying . Whereas if you like steal a bunch of like beef or salmon , especially .

Speaker 1 8:47

Or fish . Yeah , I'm going to be sitting on fish for a long time . That's what she said Literally or figuratively .

Speaker 2 8:54

Yeah , no , sorry , anywho . So that's pretty crazy , though that's all I got to say . The one that I thought you may , you know , be interested in Is you are quite the foodie , my friend . In a good way , though , you spread positive knowledge and enrich the culture . No foodie .

Speaker 1 9:14

Sorry , hate that term . Food them . Food is Sorry , just sounds pretentious and rather effeminate . Foodie does it ?

Speaker 2 9:21

does , does it not ?

Speaker 2 9:23

I like the foodist one , to be honest , you know that's pretty clever , I like that . So , anyway , here we go . The French truffle heist in 2005 . A group of sophisticated thieves equipped with night vision goggles . These guys had night vision goggles and they broke into a truffle farm at night and , uh , stole a large hall of pedigord . I said that like spanish damn it , pedigord black truffles , one of the most expensive delicacies in the world . How much was stolen , my friend ? A hundred thousand dollars worth of troubles were taken in a single night . Uh , you know , it's pretty obvious . Yeah , yeah , and you know , beyond the fact , I doubt these guys were eating them all , but these truffles can sell for over $1,500 a pound as of 2005 .

Truffle Thieves and Cheese Fraud

Speaker 2 10:10

So it's pretty lucrative , my friend . It's a heck of a target . In addition to stealing truffles , the gangs in France often steal truffle-hunting dogs as well . I guess that was another fact I learned today or the other day , whichever you decide . Yeah , I guess that was another fact .

Speaker 2 10:21

I learned today or the other day , whichever you decide . Yeah , these dogs can be worth thousands of dollars . Yeah , because you know they're going to go find the troubles that make the money . It's just like a birding dog , I'm assuming . I don't know , but apparently , uh , truffle thefts are pretty common in France and Italy , leading farmers to patrol their land with guard dogs and even firearms . Sheesh , all right , there we are . Go truffle . Protect your truffles . Guys , watch them . That's all I'm going to say .

Speaker 1 10:53

And the damn thing changed . Boy , protect your truffles , ooh .

Speaker 2 10:58

Yeah , step on my truffles , You's in trouble . I don't know .

Speaker 1 11:02

Thief in London's Borough Market passed himself off as a representative of the world-famous French cheese distributor and was able to make off with $300,000 of cheddar .

Speaker 2 11:14

What I like cheese but I like cheddar . Oh , yep , we knew , we know it . King Nicky , over there under Nicotine , and my friends Check him out N-I-C-K-A-T-I-N-A if you want to spell it correctly . Yeah , I actually read about that one . That's pretty crazy , man . Cheddar cheese is a heck of a thing . From the town of Cheddar is where it was invented , I believe I read one time , and the original cheddar cheese actually is aged in a cheddar cave . So apparently , to these people in this town , if it's not aged in this cave , it's not really cheddar cheese , but whatever , that's what I say . So , yeah , fake credentials and emails .

Speaker 2 11:58

I actually had that one , owen . That was when I looked up too . That's pretty crazy . There's , um , let's see what else we got here . What else we got here on this fine day of theft the vanilla bean heist . That sounds interesting . What do you think about that one ? Yeah , so what happened , owen ? A woman who was working at this vanilla bean import company stole large quantities of vanilla over time and then just resold it on the black market . She stole 130 . Wouldn't it on the black market ? She stole 130 .

Speaker 1 12:25

Wouldn't it be the white market if it was vanilla ?

Speaker 2 12:28

No , shit , huh , jeez , guys , get it right , these sources . The Spicy Chef as well . That's where I got this one . We're doubling up on the Spicy Chef . Anything that I did have personally on that last one was due to the Cheese Professor . That's a pretty good source . Yeah , anything that I did have personally on that last one was due to the cheese professor , that's a pretty good source . Oh , okay , yeah , pretty top men here , yeah . So $139,000 worth of vanilla beans , that's a lot .

Speaker 2 12:54

Vanilla beans are the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron , huh , which you told me

Vanilla Beans and Caviar Capers

Speaker 2 13:00

Sometimes selling for over $7,000 per pound , you know , and that also would probably be why there's like a lot of fake vanilla . You know , I mean it's on purpose imitation , but I do feel here in the US , when I think of vanilla and I've used it for cooking and such things or whatever , I'm up to that the vanilla real vanilla extract and fake vanilla tastes different and I'm more used to the fake vanilla flavor , because I did have a bottle of vanilla from Madagascar and it was really good , but it definitely had a different flavor to it . I mean it was more like when you buy , like the vanilla bean ice cream and how it's the difference between French vanilla or whatever , your normal vanilla ice cream , and how it's the difference between French vanilla or whatever , or your normal vanilla ice cream , I suppose would be better . Supermercados here . That's the Spanish word for supermarket . Not too much different , my friends , but now you learned something else , anyway , wow .

Speaker 1 13:57

Yeah , informative . Here's another one . I just have a problem with the numbers on . Maybe I'm missing something here , but caviar well known to be one of the most expensive foods in the world . A Russian businessman returned from a New Year's party and discovered that 22 tons of caviar was missing in Moscow . Holy shit , or yes , yes , it was Moscow . Sorry , but yeah , they're claiming that's worth $470,000 . That works out to only like $10 a pound and I don't think you can get caviar right is there .

Speaker 2 14:44

Yeah , I don't even understand .

Speaker 1 14:46

I mean a ton is 2000 pounds , correct ? Yes , yeah , yeah , it is oh no , I'm sorry , I did the math wrong . That's my bad .

Speaker 2 14:56

Oh it's okay , I did do it wrong . Oh , owen , you're off the show , bro . You're off the show . Oh no , I'm sorry , I did the math wrong . That's my bad . Oh , it's okay , I did do it wrong . Oh , owen , owen , you're off the show , bro . You're off the show Just joking .

Speaker 1 15:05

Okay , that makes more sense . Yes , that's More like pushing 11 grand a pound . That's making a lot more sense . I fucked that one up .

Speaker 2 15:15

It's okay . It's okay , we have smart listeners , they can do math , $2.50 for beef .

Speaker 1 15:21

That's not gourmet .

Speaker 2 15:23

Yeah , no shit , that is not gourmet at all . I was trying to look up if there was any food heists in Montana , you know real fast here , and I didn't quite get there . Owen , I don't think so . Apparently , people don't steal food on that level in Montana because you know there's not enough food in Montana . I don't know , but that would have been fun .

Speaker 1 15:46

Not on that level but interestingly enough hopefully soon to be friend of the show , jeremy I was telling him he's a regular friend of myself and Boogie and visits us often here and regular friend of myself and Boogie and visits us often here . And I was telling him the day Colton and I discussed even doing this and talked about you know some of these large numbers and apparently a barbecue place in Laurel just outside of Billings had two briskets stolen and Jeremy read me the article and they did . They referred to it as a heist and he just kept kind of laughing . Every time he was like , I don't know , too brisk , it's still what a horrible thing To steal someone's

Local Montana Food Theft

Speaker 1 16:25

barbecue . But so yeah , incidentally it was not on this level , but there was a recent Food heist .

Speaker 2 16:34

Right , yeah , there you go , see , now there's some Montana facts Folks here . So I Briefly looked up weirdest food heist Right In the neck of the woods . There you go , see , now there's some Montana facts folks , hey . So I briefly looked up weirdest food heist , just for fun . Okay , guys . One thing , though , that struck me on this list immediately as you were reading that was it came up with a bull sperm . I don't know how that's a food . In Ulf in Germany , you stole 60 containers of bull sperm . All right , guys , that's what you need to think about for the rest of your day , what they were doing with it . I'm not going to read anymore , that's it . Just know that in Germany , they stole 60 containers of bull sperm . Maybe it's because it's going to be eventually producing beef , I don't know . Wow , yeah , what a wacky world . Yeah , I expect stuff like that to happen in Finland , but not in Germany , guys , Just joking . Finland had to bring that beef back . Ha , I ain't got nothing against Finland , wouldn't it be reindeer ?

Speaker 1 17:33

Oh , I don't know , Is that what they say up there Is like instead of having beef with someone , you have reindeer with someone .

Speaker 2 17:39

Possibly , oh , I don't know , possibly , oh , my dear , oh , my dear goodness , I don't know . Nonetheless , bro , I really appreciated this episode . It was nice to get into kind of a list and get back lighthearted . Currently , I tell stories , headquarters was going through a brief transformation , setting up a new studio still in temporary location at this point in time . But other than that , things are clicking right along , guys , and we do hope to be coming a little bit more fast and furious with these episodes on our road to 100, . Okay , this will be our 96th episode and we're creeping up on 100 episodes , guys .

Speaker 2 18:16

I feel like that's kind of an accomplishment for me and Owen , you know , considering that this was our first go at it and we started it just because we wanted to . We started , I Tell Stories , to do something where maybe we could share some positivity with people . You know , make lighthearted of some of the things that go on and , you know , maybe make you guys interested in learning some stuff . It's never meant to be like we know the facts , we're 100% right all the time . We just want to share with you what we've seen just by looking at our phones , looking at our computer , reading a book and then doing a little bit of research . So we hope sometimes that you guys follow up on us and maybe get

Reflecting on Podcast Journey

Speaker 2 19:00

interested in something else besides your daily grind , because we all know that's easy to get caught in . So at the end of the day , we appreciate you . Podcastlandia From Germany down to . You know we do have some Mexico listeners I've seen . You know we get a lot of countries Pretty amazing . Owen .

Speaker 1 19:19

Yeah , I think it's 56 overall .

Speaker 2 19:22

Yeah , and that's just within those periods . So when we do look at that and shout out to Japan , we've had a lot of UK listeners . That's always nice . Canada Shout out to Canada . For sure , just everybody who supports us really appreciate you .

Speaker 1 19:41

Yeah , we appreciate all of you . Much love everybody .