In late December 2025, a truckload of lobster worth around $400,000 vanished somewhere between Massachusetts and the Midwest. The shipment, handled by Rexing Companies out of Indiana, had been picked up in Taunton and was supposed to end up at Costco warehouses in Illinois and Minnesota. It never showed up. Dylan Rexing, the company's president and CEO, went public with the news, pointing fingers at a fake driver who posed as a real carrier to grab the load.
Rexing didn't mince words about how it happened. “This theft wasn’t random,” he 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.”
The lobsters weren't live ones swimming around—they were processed and ready for shelves—but that didn't make the hit any less painful. For a company like Rexing, which isn't some giant corporation but a mid-sized operation with over 100 employees, losing that kind of money stings hard. Rexing talked about having to put off hiring new people and cutting back on bonuses everyone was counting on. “For a mid-sized brokerage like ours, a $400,000 loss is significant,” he noted. “It forces tough decisions and ultimately drives up costs across the supply chain — costs consumers ultimately end up paying.”
This wasn't a one-off fluke, either. Reports came out that another seafood load got hit from the same Taunton spot earlier in the month, and law enforcement told Rexing about even more thefts in the area. The FBI stepped in to investigate, though no one's been caught yet, and Costco stayed quiet when asked for comment.
What makes this story hit home for a lot of folks is how it ties into a much bigger headache ripping through trucking and shipping across the country. Cargo theft has been climbing fast, with organized groups getting smarter about pulling it off. They use fake identities, hacked emails, and throwaway phones to trick brokers and shippers into handing over valuable loads. High-end stuff like electronics, booze, or food—especially pricey items like lobster—tops their list because it's easy to flip on the black market.
Numbers paint a grim picture. Industry trackers say cargo theft costs businesses anywhere from $15 billion to $35 billion every year, and it's been jumping sharply. Some reports from 2024 and into 2025 show thousands of incidents, with the value of stolen goods hitting records. Food and drinks lead the pack for what's targeted, and seafood fits right in as a premium item that fetches good money quick.
Guys who follow this stuff closely, like those in trucking or logistics, know it's not just about one lost truck. These thefts mess with the whole chain—delays at stores, higher insurance rates for haulers, and eventually bigger bills at checkout. Rexing put it plain: these crimes don't just hurt companies; they push prices up for regular people buying groceries or stocking up at places like Costco.
He also called out the need for better tools on the federal side. “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,” he said. “Until that happens, these thefts will continue to disrupt businesses and impact everyday prices.”
Efforts are underway, with things like Homeland Security's Operation Boiling Point trying to crack down on these rings that hit cargo along with retail crime. But as long as the payoffs stay high and the risks low, thieves keep finding ways around the safeguards.
Stories like the missing lobster load remind everyone in the supply chain—from drivers on the road to warehouse workers—that vigilance matters. Double-checking carriers, watching for weird emails, and pushing for stronger laws could help stem the tide. In the meantime, that vanished shipment serves as a wake-up call: America's highways are hauling more than goods these days; they're carrying targets for crooks who know exactly how to strike.
For anyone who's spent years in business or just pays attention to how things get from point A to point B, it's frustrating to see hard work undone by these schemes. But shining a light on cases like this one might be the push needed to finally get ahead of the problem. Until then, the costs keep adding up—and we all feel it one way or another.
