Slippery bandits looted $2.5 million of premium olive oil from a Texas warehouse and peddled it to competing shops that are selling the stolen goods at half the price.
CHO America, makers of Terra Delyssa branded olive oils, reported that the thieves stole 18 truckloads — containing 29 pallets, each with 672 bottles — from a third party-owned warehouse in Houston last month, according to local reports.
The warehouse on Navigation Road reportedly went out of business and didn’t have any operational security cameras at the time the high-priced theft occurred, KHOU reported.
Wajih Rekik, the owner of CHO America, told Fox 26 that he believes the theft was an “organized” hit and is desperate for the public’s help to recover his product.
“It’s not someone who likes olive oil, because there is no way he can drink that much olive oil,” Rekik said.
“That is a lot of olive oil to drink.”
Rekik said he didn’t learn of the $2.5 million theft until weeks later, when he received a call that the high-quality organic olive oil was not at the correct store.
After receiving photos, the company used traceability features and trackable lot numbers to recover one pallet from a Houston store selling it at a much lower retail price.
The award-winning oil, which is packaged in a dark glass bottle with a yellow label — goes for $15 to $27 a bottle.
“Knowing our product is being sold at half-price or one-fourth the price at some stores now is devastating, too,” Rekik told KHOU.
The company is asking store owners to report any suspicious offers of Terra Delyssa at unusually low prices.
