Someone stole $222K worth of beef from a truck in Windsor, Ont. But where did it go?

pentad century and xxx boxes of boneless boeuf ditch roast worth $222,000 was stolen from a truck in a Windsor parking lot a month ago, believed to be last seen making its way on Highway 401, according to local police last week.

But where did it go?

If the meat is not recovered, it's likely already hit shelves in grocery stores or has been served in restaurants, said Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Alliance. 

He believes stolen meat slips back into the supply chain quickly — often without reputable buyers realizing it's stolen.

He said cargo heists are rarely random. They're organized crimes on the rise with buyers lined up in advance. 

"They have a market," said Laskowski, who has been in the industry for over a decade. "It's targeted, planned and then distributed."

He said with perishable goods like meat, thieves need to move product fast, which means they already know where it's going.

"Without a network, you can't store it unless they have storage. Typically thieves like products that they can steal and sell and distribute very quickly," said Laskowski.

Windsor's case isn't isolated. Five years ago, a truck carrying more than $230,000 worth of beef was stolen from the JBS meat plant in Brooks, Alta., after thieves used fake paperwork to pose as a legitimate carrier.

The same year, about $100,000 worth of meat was stolen in a butcher shop in Peterborough, Ont.

Meat is a growing target in cargo crime according to CargoNet, an American agency that tracks cargo theft across Canada and the U.S. 

Their quarterly report this year shows a 242 per cent increase in meat thefts in Canada and the U.S. Compared to last year. 

It also said organized thieves in Canada are just as sophisticated as their counterparts in the south, using the same tactics and criminal networks to steal goods and move them quickly.

Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, strongly disagrees with the idea that legitimate stores are taking stolen product.

"That's just not going to happen in a grocery store in this country," Sands said. "Somebody pulls up in a truck at my back door with a bunch of meat, the red flags go up all over the place."

Sands is an advocate for nearly 7,000 businesses in Canada for the last 25 years.

He said grocers negotiate agreements on an ongoing basis, maintaining relationships for years with reputable and reliable suppliers.

He said meat is definitely a hot commodity, increasingly being stolen from grocery stores.  

"I'm sure there's a market for it. I'm just telling you, the market ain't in a grocery store. It's just not," said Sands, adding that Canadians should have confidence in the robust regulatory food system in place.  

Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president at Restaurants Canada, acknowledged that, on rare occasions, someone might try to sell products through the back door of a kitchen. But he said restaurants almost always refuse.

"The vast majority of the time, our industry will not only say no, but they'll basically say, 'this is really unethical for you to be here,'" said von Schellwitz.

He said stolen product is far more likely to move through informal personal networks or online, and not a formal restaurant supply chain.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said any cases of food theft are the police's responsibility, but stressed that all food sold in Canada must meet strict traceability requirements under federal law. 

The government food agency said it requires businesses to track the movement of their food one step forward and one step back in the supply chain. 

Retailers are also required to keep records on the name and address of their food suppliers and the date the food was supplied to them, in case the CFIA asks for it. 

Windsor police did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the case, including questions about where the heist stands and where the food ended up. 

Laskowski said law enforcement is severely underfunded when it comes to cargo theft.

"They don't have enough resources, both in manpower and the type of resources that they would require to fight crime."

He said despite the safety measures put in place, like advanced tracking technology, thieves are becoming increasingly aware and sophisticated, making cargo theft easy.  

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