More than $277K worth of meat stolen in Grand Island

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - Grand Island Police are investigating a beef theft that they said is different from previous thefts they’ve experienced regarding stolen meat.

“This was different,” said GIPD Captain Jim Duering. “It wasn’t cold storage trailers sitting in a parking lot that got stolen.”

Capt. Duering said the theft happened at JBS in Grand Island last week when a carrier company loaded up two semi loads of $277,549 worth of fresh beef, but never made it to their intended destination.

GIPD said it was just the beef that was stolen and not the trucks or trailers like in previous cases.

GIX Logistics reported the theft to Grand Island Police. They are the ‘middle man’ that puts the person with the product in line with a transit company.

In this case, police said a fraudulent corporation acted as the carrier company. They then signed up for a load through a mass transit system and GIX Logistics dispatched them to JBS. They had the paper work needed to go into JBS Swift and get the meat loaded up, and drove away from the facility -- never going to the final destinations for the beef in Maryland and New York.

Capt. Duering said the carrier company is the suspect. They are not related to JBS, GIX Logistics or the company the meat was supposed to go to.

Right now, GIX Logistics is taking the hit for the $277,000 in meat taken.

Police says there are a lot of leads they still have to follow up on.

Capt. Duering said he believes these thefts aren’t a local operation, but an organized operation happening from out of state.

He said they are continuing to investigate to see if they are connected with past crimes.

Around the same time of this theft, there were reported thefts in Grand Island and York.