In California, nut thefts are on the rise. Almonds and pistachios are leaving the processors’ sites loaded onto trucks that never make it to their expected destinations. Instead, they are diverted to another warehouse or sent away aboard a “ghost truck” that looks legitimate but is untraceable in a trucking database.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, 31 nut heists were reported last year in California’s Central Valley, amounting to a $9 million crime wave. And local authorities are finding the cases tough to crack because of the sophisticated nature of “high-tech nut bandits,” who ship cargo across state lines and overseas.
