About two weeks ago, thieves targeted a major Santo Spirits shipment as it crossed the border into the United States. The tequila company is co-owned by celebrity chef Guy Fieri and musician Sammy Hagar.
First reported by People, thieves hijacked a pair of Santo trucks carrying an estimated $1 million in spirits in an incredible caper that continues to unfold as the investigation continues. The cargo included 4,040 cases of tequila, nearly 25,000 bottles. Some bottles included a special aged añejo that took 39 months to produce.
The trucks had just crossed into Laredo, Texas, and were headed to distributors in California and Pennsylvania. Neither made it and Santo’s logistics partner, Johanson, was thrown off by some sophisticated technology.
Most Read on IEN:
According to Johanson, things started looking fishy around November 9, 2024, and the transportation company soon found out that the loads had been illegally double-brokered to different carriers.
Double brokering happens when a broker with a signed contract with a shipper passes the shipment to a different broker without the original shipper’s knowledge. This secondary broker completes the shipment while the original broker watches from the sidelines. The second shipper allegedly spoofed the GPS signal Johanson used to track the shipments with a GPS emulator.
Santo CEO Dan Butkus told Forbes that the drivers sent photos to dispatch saying they had broken down, and the GPS information matched the drivers’ accounts. Once the drivers reached Laredo, the heist was on, and Santo was none-the-wiser until distributors in California and Pennsylvania started asking for their tequila. By then, Butkus says it was too late. The trucks were MIA, and the driver’s phones disconnected.
Fieri was understandably disappointed. He told People that the company is experiencing its best year on record, but that will come to a screeching halt.
Fieri says the company’s independent Mexico-based distiller is working around the clock to replenish supply. However, Santo will still face shortages, disappointing for a company on a heater coming into its busiest time of the year.
Authorities recently recovered one of the trucks in Los Angeles as it was being offloaded in the street. The area is reportedly known for criminal activity. The other truck remains in the wind.
In a statement, the company said it has been “a wild couple of weeks.” However, the company is “extremely relieved and grateful that all members of the Santo team and the freight company are safe.”
Butkus says the heist is the “strangest thing” he’s seen in his 25 years in the spirits business. The nature of the caper suggests the company was targeted.
Even if any product is recovered, the company cannot legally sell it. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulations say alcoholic products must remain under tight control from manufacturer to consumer, and the theft broke that chain of custody.
Hagar founded Santo in 2017. Fieri joined as a partner in 2019.
Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news.