This story is a little strange.
Police in Pennsylvania are hunting for thieves who stole 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer, amid a US-wide spike in the price of eggs that has triggered panic-buying in some shops.
The eggs were lifted from the back of Pete & Gerry’s Organics’ distribution trailer on Saturday at about 8.40pm in Antrim township, according to police. There have been no arrests yet.
“We’re relying on leads from people from the community. So we’re hoping that somebody knows something, and they’ll call us and give us some tips,” Megan Frazer of the Pennsylvania state police told the Associated Press.
“In my career, I’ve never heard of 100,000 eggs being stolen. This is definitely unique,” said Frazer, a 12-year veteran of law enforcement.
…Waffle House, the Georgia-based restaurant chain, said it was adding a 50- cent charge per egg, blaming the “continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu)”.
I recall the great maple syrup heist in Canada in 2012. But maple syrup at least can be kept for a long time while it is being flogged in the black market. But eggs? How long can eggs be kept? And how does one set about getting buyers for hot eggs? The police have not as yet cracked (ha!) the case.
The heist of 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer in Pennsylvania has become a whodunit that police have yet to crack.
Four days after the theft that law enforcement say could be tied to the sky-high cost of eggs, no leads have come in, Trooper First Class Megan Frazer, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police, said Wednesday.
It is the case that egg prices have risen sharply.
Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight with Easter approaching.
The average price per dozen eggs nationwide hit $4.15 in December. That is not quite as high as the $4.82 record set two years ago, but the Agriculture Department predicts egg prices are going to soar another 20% this year.
On the campaign trail Trump made a big deal about the price of eggs and promised to bring them down. He now has egg on his face.
Bird flu is spreading while Trump is undermining the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving the WHO, and attacking scientists at the NIH..
The police are scrambling for leads.
Just picturing a guy in a trench coat leaning out of a dark alley…
“Psst. Hey, buddy. You want some eggs? I’ve got the good stuff. Extra-large. Pasture-raised. $5 a dozen, and if anyone asks, I was never here.”
That’s no yolk! It’s not white!
larpar@1,
They should look into the possibility that the thieves have set up a shell company to market their booty.
This doesn’t seem quite as bizarre to me as the organized theft of millions of dollars worth of CA nuts like almonds, pistachios and pecans. Or the thefts of not honey, but honeybee hives, valued in the millions of dollars. I’m sure organized crime will get into the egg black market too.
Of course! Black egg market, they’ll make century eggs out of them!
As Ridana says, this is an issue here in California. It not just the barbarians stealing copper wire, melting down pennies and nickels, and brass statues and melting them down for their metal. It’s perishables of all the agricultural products we grow. They would not have done the heist if they didn’t have customers in mind.
In particular people eat hard-boiled eggs, which keep longer.