Police: $500K worth of whisky stolen from transport truck in Windsor, Ont.
Crown Royal products taken in the heist are making their way to cities east of Windsor, police say
Investigators in southwestern Ontario are searching for at least six suspects who authorities say recently pulled off a large-scale whisky heist by swiping more than 1,000 boxes of Crown Royal from a transport truck.
The stolen Canadian liquor has a retail value of nearly $500,000, according to Windsor police, and some of it has since made its way east of Windsor to other cities.
"In my time here, I can't say that I have recalled seeing anything like this before," Const. Bianca Jackson, a spokesperson for the Windsor Police Service, said Wednesday.
According to police, on the night of May 17, the thieves broke into a fenced-in facility on Devon Drive, an industrial area near Devonshire Mall, and stole the loaded trailer.
The next day, the trailer was found empty in the 4000 block of County Road 46.
A short surveillance video shared by police shows an individual standing near a dark-coloured transport truck with a white trailer parked in a lot.
The suspect can be seen directing a large U-Haul truck to back up behind the doors of the truck trailer.
Investigators have asked people who live near Devon Drive or the lot on County Road 46 to check their surveillance or dash cam footage for any possible clues.
"There was a rental truck that we believe has been used to transport some of the stolen alcohol down the road to the 401, going east to cities like London and maybe even farther east," Jackson said.
"Our officers will work with our neighbouring police services to find out more details and then go from there with the investigation."
Jackson said investigators are trying to determine how the suspects knew the alcohol was stored at the Devon Drive facility.
Investigators believe six or more persons were involved in the crime. Jackson said that estimate is based in part on the number of people needed "to pull off a theft of this calibre."
In an initial statement about the theft, police said the alcohol was valued at $100,000. Jackson said the figure represents the loss for the business owner, while $500,000 is the total retail value.
A spokesperson for Diageo, the company that produces Crown Royal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Canadian whisky is bottled at a plant in Amherstburg, Ont.
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With files from Katerina Georgieva and Bob Becken