Thieves in Nebraska steal trailers loaded with 160,000 pounds of beef

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Police are searching for thieves who made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in meat by stealing three fully loaded trailers.

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The Grand Island Police Department told KSNB that the thefts were likely carried out by at least two people, and may have been done over several days.

Police said in a news release that a Volvo truck and a trailer filled with $232,666.64 of beef were stolen from a business on East 4th Street sometime between June 22 and 26. The truck was later found, but not the beef.

Investigators said that thieves stole two semi-tractors valued at $50,000 and $70,000 from the same business where the Volvo was stolen. Grand Island police said in a news release that the two stolen semi-tractors were then used to steal two refrigerated semi-trailers full of meat from a business on East U.S. Highway 30.

“I think they went around to look for (refrigerated) units that were running. The fact that they were all loaded with beef may imply that they had done some level of surveillance,” Grand Island police Captain Jim Duering told KSNB.

Police told NCN that both the semi-tractors that were stolen had keys left inside of them, and that they have been recovered.

Chief Duering told KSNB that the police believe all the thefts are linked.

“We think its probably the same crew who made two trips and took the meat into two different locations. At some point, you can’t unload 160,000 pounds of meat without having another truck available. If those were stolen or not, we don’t know.”

Police said they don’t know the exact value of the stolen meat, saying, “The first tractor and trailer that was taken had a little over $232,000 worth of meat,” Duering told KSNB. “If you look at the cost of beef right now it can be anywhere between $200,000 to $1 million depending on what meat cut was on board at the time.”

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