North Arlington, N.J., police say they stopped an attempted theft of about 29,000 pounds of frozen seafood valued at more than $273,000 on Saturday, Oct. 3. According to police, someone posing as a representative of the shipment’s freight broker called and texted the driver of a refrigerated tractor-trailer and told him to take part of the load to North Arlington for transfer to another truck. Officers responding to a report of suspicious activity found pallets, mostly frozen shrimp, being moved into a 26-foot box truck and recovered the cargo, police said.
An 18-year-old Bronx man was charged with theft by deception, false representation, conspiracy and employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, and a juvenile was also taken into custody. The charges are allegations. Kearny police told The Observer the same man was charged in a Sept. 1 incident in which a driver was told by unknown people to unload cargo at an alternate location.
The case reflects in-transit diversion schemes, in which criminals impersonate a broker to redirect a legitimately booked load mid-route.
Sources
- The Observer: NAPD arrest ‘fishy’ suspect who attempted quarter-million-dollar plus theft (Oct. 6, 2026)
- The Observer: Kearny police say they arrested same suspect in Sept. 1 cargo incident (Oct. 7, 2026)
- Daily Voice: 29,000-Pound Frozen Seafood Heist Intercepted Mid-Transfer In North Arlington (Oct. 6, 2026)
- Patch: Police Stop Teen From Stealing 14 Tons Of Shrimp And Salmon In Bergen County (Oct. 7, 2026)
- CDLLife: Trucker received calls and texts from fake freight broker in attempt to steal $273K worth of seafood (Oct. 7, 2026)
