Roughly $500,000 worth of bourbon was snatched from a Philadelphia warehouse in a broad daylight heist in which unsuspecting employees helped load the liquor right into the thieves’ truck.
The 10,800 bottles — totaling 1,800 cases — of Noble Oak Bourbon were stolen from the American Supply warehouse between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday in a “coordinated cargo theft operation,” A21 Wine & Spirits and Apogee 21 Holdings, Inc told NBCPhiladelphia.
The suspects duped warehouse employees into thinking they were supposed to load the truck full of the high-quality booze, the outlet reported.
The workers missed some regular security protocols and allowed the burglars to enter to “move forward with the heist,” said Rob Koch, chief operating officer of Apogee 21 Holdings, Inc.
“We are treating this as a serious criminal matter and are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities,” a spokesperson for A21 Wine & Spirits told the outlet.
“The theft involved a significant quantity of premium bourbon from our newly acquired brand, Noble Oak, and appears to have been executed with knowledge of logistics operations and product movement schedules.”
Koch urged distributors, bars, restaurants, and consumers to remain vigilant, as the stolen bourbon may be resold through unauthorized channels, secondary wholesalers, online marketplaces, or other illegal distribution networks.
“This is one of the largest thefts of bourbon that we’ve seen, especially this year in the region,” Koch told the outlet.
The massive theft has been reported to the Philadelphia Police Department, the FBI, and other agencies.
Apogee 21 Holdings did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Read the full article here
