Cartons of tuna stolen from tractor-trailer parked in South Philadelphia
It's an organized operation that takes only minutes to steal thousands of dollars worth of product.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police are investigating yet another cargo theft after thieves took off with large cartons of tuna from a refrigerated truck in South Philadelphia, valued at about $10,000.
It happened around 3:30 a.m. Thursday on South Lawrence Street near Pattison Avenue.
Philadelphia police say a 63-year-old driver was sleeping in the truck cabin when a security guard woke him up and scared off the thieves.
It happened right outside Samuels Seafood Company, and the head of security said there were four vehicles involved.
Samuel's Seafood Company wasn't impacted - their items were delivered. Still, the security team is now warning its staffers.
"These guys aren't just affecting bigger businesses. They're affecting independent long haul drivers that are out of pocket now, have to pay for that expense," said John Mackara, the head of security for Samuel's Seafood Company.
It's an organized operation that takes only minutes to steal thousands of dollars worth of product. This has been a growing trend in the last three years.
In fact, at the same location just three days earlier, police say $2,400 worth of salmon was stolen off a truck.
"Three days earlier on the same block, we had another cargo theft at approximately the same time. That one was six boxes of salmon taken," said Robert McKeever, the commanding officer of Philadelphia police's Southwest Detective Division.
"It's very easy for someone if they have a knife to cut that plastic. They were taking box by box, maybe two or three boxes at a time, and you do that as quick as you can for a minute, a minute and a half. It doesn't seem like much but you're looking at almost 400 pounds of product," said Mackara.
Cargo thefts in Philadelphia more than doubled from 2021 to 2022 and continued to grow in 2023 with 257 last year alone.
This year, cargo thefts throughout the city stand at 102, down about 30% from the same time last year.
This is just the latest of several cargo thefts in the city in recent months.
Back in July, bandits stole 400 cases of beef from a truck parked in the 2800 block of S. 63rd Street in Southwest Philadelphia.
The meat was valued at $15,000.
In April, a truck driver beaten up when he tried to stop thieves from stealing $30,000 worth of frozen snow crabs from a truck on the 4300 block of Byberry Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
Police are asking truckers that if this happens to them, don't intervene and to just call 911 immediately.
About a week beforehand, more than $12,000 worth of pork was stolen from a truck parked on Charter Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
