Police in Philadelphia are investigating after a cargo truck carrying tuna fish was broken into and looted in South Philadelphia early Thursday.
According to police, thieves targeted a truck parked along the 3400 block of South Lawrence Street in South Philadelphia at about 3 a.m. on Thursday, breaking into the back of the truck and making off with thousands of dollars worth of tuna.
According to John Mackara, chief of security for Samuels Seafood Company, where the truck was making a delivery when the robbery occurred, thieves worked fast.
"They were taking box by box, two to three boxes at a time. You do that as long as you can for a minute, minute-and-a-half, you’re looking at almost 400 pounds of product," said Mackara.
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The entire incident, he said, happened while the driver slept in the truck's cab.
It's the second robbery of seafood along this roadway in this week alone. Police officials told NBC10's Miguel Martinez-Valle that a few days prior, a group stole about $2,400 worth of salmon from a truck parked at the same location.
"This is not the first time that I believe these groups of people have been trying to hit different trucks," Mackara said. "So far, we’ve been lucky that they have been non-violent but that’s definitely a scary situation."
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And, according to Captain Robert McKeever, of the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Unit, officials are seeing more and more thefts of cargo like this.
"We’re seeing these cargo thefts pick up not just in South Philadelphia, but across the city,” he said.
According to police, Philly has seen 102 thefts of cargo citywide this year and, last year, there were 257 similar robberies.
In fact, just last month, a similar incident happened in Southwest Philadelphia, when thousands of dollars worth of beef was stolen from a truck.
Officials did not share any description or further details on those suspected to have stolen the tuna.
But, they did say they thieves fled the scene in a pair of SUVs and sedans.
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