Guy Fieri, Sammy Hagar's trucks carrying $1 million of tequila hijacked in double heist after crossing border
Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar's tequila business took a major hit after two of their freight trucks carrying $1 million in products were stolen.
The celebrity chef, 56, and the former Van Halen singer, 77, are the co-owners of the tequila brand Santo Spirits. A representative for Hagar told Fox News Digital that the trucks were hijacked over the weekend of Nov. 9 in Laredo, Texas.
The missing trucks were carrying 24,240 bottles of Santo Blanco and Reposado as well as a specially made Extra Añejo, which was created over the course of 39 months.
Hagar's rep said "it appears this was an organized crime effort where the trucks were illegally double brokered to different carriers who transferred the product to their trucks" after they crossed over the border from Mexico to Texas.
"For a growing company like Santo, it's really a shame for something like this to happen in the middle of our strongest year to date and right before the holidays!" Hagar said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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"Anyone that knows business knows that this is a huge setback for any company in a hugely competitive market," the "I Can't Drive 55" rocker added. "But Guy and I will survive. Most of all, we're glad that nobody was hurt during this crime."
In an interview with People Magazine, Fieri said that he and Hagar learned of the heist on Nov. 14.
"We've worked so hard," the Food Network star said. "This is our best year we've ever had in Santo. We just had all this momentum, and now whatever's on the shelf is all people are going to get."
Fieri told People that workers at their Mexican distillery were "on a 24/7 schedule right now" to replace the stolen tequila.
However, Fieri said that it was unlikely that they would be able to fully replenish their tequila supply in time for the holidays, during which Santos Spirits typically sees its highest volume of sales.
The "Ultimate Recipe Showdown" alum told People that "someone could be trying to break the momentum" that their tequila business had gained in the marketplace.
Fieri also expressed his surprise that two trucks were targeted by the thieves.
"I mean, one is one. But now you've got to have double the amount of people to pull off the double heist," Fieri said. "It just seems so much riskier to take two trucks."
Santo Spirits president Dan Butkus told People that he was worried about how the theft of the total 440 cases of tequila would impact their distillery and their employees.
"Our distiller is an independent distiller who's dependent on our sales for his livelihood and that of his team," Butkus said. "My sales team, my marketing team, the entire Santo Spirits team is dependent upon these sales.
"That's sort of the piece that's most hurtful to me," he added. "We've got to support these people both at the distillery and in the U.S., and we can't do it right now without the revenue from these cases."
People reported that the crimes are being investigated by Laredo Police Department, Los Angeles' Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team and the federal cargo theft prevention and recovery network CargoNet.
Fieri is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can locate the missing trucks.
He told People that he is especially hoping to recover the Extra Añejo. "It's like the crown jewel of the company, something that we've been working on," he explained. "You can't reproduce something that takes four years to make."
"It's like a movie — I never in a million years thought this was coming down the pike like this," Fieri said of the heist. "But it's real."