Thieves are going nutty for nuts, stealing a $70,000 cargo load from Wilmot township

It’s still unclear where the missing pistachios have ended up, but a tractor-trailer that held $70,000 worth of them was stolen from a trucking yard in Wilmot township on Jan. 20.

It follows a similar theft that happened in Cambridge back in November, when a tractor-trailer full of walnuts, valued at $73,000 was stolen.

Cracking open the case, Mark Haywood, a detective with Peel Police says its an example of an alarming trend they are seeing in the last couple years. Thieves are targeting high value cargo loads that they know they can sell for an easy profit.

“It used to be where you would see thieves targeting whatever they could take, now, it seems they have focused a lot more on goods they can panhandle easily,” said Haywood.

“I’d say about 80 per cent of the time they know what they are looking for, we saw a huge spike in cargo theft several years ago.”

Haywood added that the thieves know who to sell the items like pistachios too in order to make a high profit, which unfortunately means some of those items may be ending up back on grocery store shelves.

Once that happens, Haywood said it is almost impossible for police to detect. They rely heavily on tips from the public.

“A lot of this money is circulating back into criminality for the use of purchasing firearms and purchasing drugs and a lot of it going overseas to fund other nefarious things as well,” said Haywood.

Traditionally the Peel Region has been high up on the list as being a hub for cargo theft, but they saw a decline last year when they successfully investigated and took out what Haywood calls a sophisticated crime group.

Outside of Peel, they have seen cargo thefts spike in areas like Waterloo Region.

The best way for companies to keep their products where they are supposed to be is to know your employees, said Haywood, adding looking into logistic companies before you use them is important as well.

Another way to stay safe, is to ensure lots are secure with fencing, good lighting and good quality security cameras in case something does happen.

“Its also very expensive to lose a load, and it really effects the bottom line when we start talking about insurance companies. There was close to 5 billion dollars in cargo thefts in Canada last year,” said Haywood.