California trucker steals 42,000 pounds of pistachios, leads to discovery of possible nut-smuggling ring
California’s Touchstone Pistachio Company realized the salty snacks were gone after a routine audit.
Aux Features Nut
This case has been cracked wide open.
During a routine audit at California’s Touchstone Pistachio Company discovered 42,000 pounds of their precious green seeds were missing. Following their revelation, the company requested an investigation by Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Agricultural Crimes Unit into the possible theft.
The TCSO shared the sleuthing process that resulted in them discovering that the tractor trailer containing their pistachios had been moved from the Montemayor Trucking lot in Delano to a nearby lot.
The culprit? 34-year-old Alberto Montemayor of Montemayor trucking, who planned on moving the pistachios from 2000 pound sacks into smaller bags for re-sale. The recovered pistachios were safely returned to Touchstone Pistachio Company.
This was just one of many nut-busts by the TCSO in the last year. In August 2020, they recovered more than $350,000 in allegedly stolen pistachios and trailers in a raid at “Setton Pistachio” in Terra Bella. These two cases are just the outer shell of a deeper illegal nut trade in California, where thieves threaten the $5.2 billion industry. At the peak of the black market trade between 2014 and 2017, the industry lost more than $7 million worth of nuts.
Listen, do you know how expensive pistachios are? Who among us would not consider buying black market pistachios for less than $10 a bag?
17 Comments
okay I was reading with mild amusement until “one of many nut-busts” got megood job
Points are lost, however, for not referring to the bags of pistachios as nut sacks.
“lookin’ a little green around the gonads there, pardner”
It was a minor slip-up, no need to get testy.
When stopped by the police and asked about the pistachios, Alberto Montemayor reportedly replied “Oh, you mean deez nuts?”
Not sure why this story would be on AV Club, but I’m glad to see it cracked wide open.
Literally the first line of the article dude
Missing form the story is the culprit was upset that movie studios rejected his spec script for The Nut Job 3.
I got a nut smuggling ring as a gag gift one year for my birthday
I wonder if Montemayor Trucking is just a shell company for something bigger?
A secret criminal enterprise disguised as something mundane? Ah, that old chestnut.
Annnnnnd now I have a craving. Damn it.
>zip<
Harlan Pepper, if you don’t stop naming nuts.
I got a Far Out Space Nuts alert for this?
You know how I know this isn’t the AV Club of old? There’s no dozens-comment long thread of nut puns to celebrate this story.Seriously, is acorn-y joke or two too much to ask?
It’s not just stolen nuts; the companies will also smuggle the nuts in order to avoid having to pay for the very costly safety measures required wheb transporting pistachios. They can, after all, suddenly spontaneously combust causing actual explosions. Seriously.