The big robbery of the eggs. 280,000 eggs disappeared within minutes from the largest manufacturer in America. Then came an redemption note: “Each one has to do what he has to do”

“I would like to report a crime,” said the man who called a Sheriff's office in Maryland on April 16. He explained that there was a theft, which involved a freight truck, writes the American daily Washington Post, in an investigation.

“So they stole all the goods?”, A dispatcher asked.

“They only took the load,” the man replied. He said she was valued at about $ 100,000.

The dispatcher asked what was stolen. The appellant hesitated.

“They took … practically … they took a whole trailer full of eggs.” It was a transport that was heading from Maryland to Florida: 280,000 brown eggs, large and very large.

They belonged to the Cal-Maine Foods company, which is proud to be “number one in the hierarchy of egg suppliers”. About 1 in 5 eggs sold in America are made by a cal-maine hen. These are on the refrigeration shelves of Walmarts, Costcos and other supermarkets, labeled Eggland's Best, Land O'Lakes and various generic brands.

By swallowing their competitors, Cal-Maine built an empire of eggs without most egg consumers knowing the company's name. But on the afternoon of April, when the 280,000 eggs left the farm, the situation began to change.

Egg crisis

A wave of avian influenza in winter was generally considered to be the cause of empty shelves and duplicating or triple egg price. In his first four months of mandate, President Donald Trump, who had stated that he “won shopping”, pronounced the word “eggs” in public at least 167 times.

Confiscated eggs more than fentanel

With the increase of prices, eggs of all brands have been declared stolen from the verandas and from the stands of farms. Two thieves were filmed while running through the snow with more than 500 eggs in a Seattle cafe. A truck full of eggs was stolen from an ecological farm in Indiana. At one point, federal agents at the border confiscated eggs more often than fentanel.

Then, in February, the bandits stole about 100,000 environmentally friendly eggs from a trailer from a unit in Pennsylvania. Theft has attracted the attention of the international press for several weeks, but remains unresolved.

Egg transport stolen from Maryland Cal-Maine Farm in April was almost three times higher.

The company did not say anything public about disappearance and refused interviews with Washington Post.

The investigators enter the scene

The investigators noted that not a Cal-Maine truck took over the 280,000 eggs on April 11th. Cal-Maine had hired an external company, called a transport broker to organize transport.

Minh Dang Ukra for Florida Broker who was in charge of transport. In order to find a truck, he announced on the date, a popular job site for carriers.

A man named Bernardo replied. He agreed to lift the eggs and deliver them to two Florida Cal-Maine units. The DANG said that it has taken all its usual precautionary measures: it has checked Bernardo's credentials, including the number of car carrier, the years of activity and the historian of accidents. He confirmed with Bernardo that the load was left in Florida, according to the promise.

But then, Cal-Maine contacted him on the dance: Where were their eggs?

Dang assumed that it was a mere confusion. He requested documents from the Maryland farm. She sent a receipt from the truck that took over the load, which showed that it followed the protocol to take her 18-wheel truck to a truck laundry to be disinfected to prevent the disease.

When Dang checked the receipt, he realized that someone other than Bernardo had paid for the truck washing and had lifted the eggs.

On April 15, at 3:45 pm, he tried a new tactic, sending an e-mail: “You will be fined $ 200 because you have not sent the documents on time. This fine will increase as we wait for more.”

Bernardo replied within an hour.

“You have to transfer $ 7500 if you want your eggs.”

“Where are my eggs?”

DANG followed the phone number of the truck. A man replied. Dang begged: “Where are my eggs?”

The trucks told Dang – and finally the detective – what happened. He agreed to share his story with The Post provided he was not called, saying that he is afraid of reprisals from people “with resources”.

The trucks said he has taken over the delivery of eggs from the online job site, as in the case of any other transport. Everything seemed simple. A goods broker gave him an address for the Maryland farm and a deadline to recover 40,000 kilograms of eggs with a declared value of $ 100,000.

The trucks said he received $ 1,000 in advance, money sent through Zelle to the owner of the transport company for which he worked. The broker promised another $ 900 after the trucks left the eggs.

But his destination was not Florida: the broker directed to a New York address. There was a lot of money for a few hours of driving, but he was going to travel to one of the most feared places for a truck, or even for anyone, in peak hours: Statn Island.

A sleepy driver

When the trucks were half an hour away, the broker was informed that there are delays in the warehouse. He was redirected to a parking lot near baseball lands, where he found a man waiting to install a temporary loading dock.

The trucks were awake for almost 24 hours. Believing that he had finished his job, he said, he decided to lie down in his truck's cab as the eggs were unloaded.

He fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was dark. People were no longer. The eggs had disappeared.

The trucks seemed strange that no one knocked on the door of his cabin to finish the papers. But when his boss called, the trucks learned that the other $ 900 were in the Zelle account, as he had promised. He assumed everything was fine.

Two months later, “Bernardo” remains in freedom.

According to road transport experts, this type of scam has grown in recent years. Identity theft, phishing and other tactics are used to deceive brokers and trucks to teach merchandise to criminal groups. The eggs – with their fragility and the short term of validity – were not an ordinary target. But, with the increase of prices, their value increased on the black market.

One last phone

The trucks received one last call from the scam.

“I know what you are doing,” the trucks told the man.

The head of the truck was on the phone, listening. He said he would never forget what the scammer told them before he closed:

“Everyone has to do what they have to do. That's how we nourish our family.” Detectives believe that the scam stole the identity of a real man named Bernardo, with a real truck company, which is why his credentials were checked.

For consumers, an egg box costs on average by about 69% more than a year ago.

But it is much cheaper than it was in March.