Massive Heist from Strategic Syrup Reserve

(Quebec, Canada)

Sticky-fingered thieves made off with almost 30 million Canadian dollars (US$30.4 million) worth of maple syrup from a reserve warehouse in rural Quebec, the provincial body responsible for managing the production of maple syrup said late Thursday.

That’s more than a quarter of the province’s extra supply—stored each year to protect producers’ from the ups and downs of global supply and demand.

Late last week, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers found empty barrels that had contained some 10 million pounds of maple syrup during a routine inventory check at a facility located in St-Louis-de-Blandford, a small town about 100 miles north east of Montreal. (Though the group didn’t specify, that works out to more than 15,000 oil drum-style barrels.)

Quebec Police are investigating.