Cops Rope in Six Suspects in 'Operation Milk' Case

Six people are arrested in connection with a $1 million milk heist, Florida investigators say.

There's no sense crying over spilt milk, but when you're charged with stealing the stuff it's probably best not to udder a word.

Miami-Dade Police said they roped in six suspects for their alleged involvement in a $1 million milk heist.

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The idea that stealing milk is actually a thing will probably come as a surprise to many schoolchildren, who are just itching to throw their allotment of the white stuff out the nearest window. 

But, seriously, kids, it's against the law.

The suspects in the alleged skim milk plot were all employees of Island Dairy, a milk distributor that worked with McArthur Dairy, a milk and dairy products company.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Got Milk", found that they were allegedly working together since October 2021, to steal more than $925,000 worth of MacArthur Dairy milk and $350,000 worth of crates.

"The subjects would manipulate the ordering system causing extra dairy products to be loaded onto the distribution company's delivery trucks," according to police news release. "Once out for delivery, the drivers would deviate from their preassigned respective routes, meet with another individual, and transfer the extra dairy products to his delivery truck."

The distribution company conducted an internal investigation that uncovered the irregularities, and identified the potential suspects. The company conducted police, who promptly conducted surveillance on the individuals.

Thieves Target Food & Beverage

Surveillance tape revealed one truck backing up to another and a man repeatedly taking milk crates from one truck to the other one. Police moo-ved in and made the bust. 

Heisting milk is bad enough, but making off with plastic milk crates creates some serious financial woes. Industry analysts believe that about 20 million crates go missing each year to the tune of $80 million and those costs get passed on to you-know-who.

And while we're talking about food and Florida, here's a story from police in Ocala, who said they arrested a man on April 10 after he took a semi-truck that was carrying over $200,000 worth of food.

Police said the suspect was arrested after being caught in the act. 

Police video footage shows the cops following the stolen semitruck to an intersection, at which point the suspect can be seen fleeing from the vehicle. Eventually, police track down him down with the help of a K-9 unit.

Food and beverage coming into port or in a warehouse is No. 1 on the list of products being targeted by freight thieves who are increasing their criminal activity across the national supply chain, CNBC reported last month.

According to CargoNet’s latest theft report through February, there was an almost 50% increase year over year in beverage and food cargo theft. January had also posted a 50% increase in this theft category. The average value of the theft is $214,0000 per load.